The Hidden Hyuga
by TheReaper0115
Summary: Shada Aru, the last of his clan, joins Squad Seven as Naruto Uzumaki's partner and friend. He fights alongside his new friends as a Leaf shinobi, honoring his family by carrying on their legacy as a Jinchuriki and as the "Black Demon of the Leaf". This is a rewrite of "Uzumaki's New Friend". It follows along with the English dub series. This book follows the first season. Enjoy!
1. The Hyuga Secret

**_Reaper: Sup guys. Here's my new version of Uzumaki's New Friend._**

 ** _Shada: TheReaper0115 owns nothing. Enjoy._**

 **-o-**

Shada Aru was a child prodigy. From the Aru clan, known for its kekkei genkai, and trained by the Hyuga, he was far more powerful than most children his age.

However, he hadn't left the compound since he had first entered it, so very few people even knew of his existence. In fact, the only non-Hyuga who knew of Shada was Hiruzen Sarutobi as Shada was considered to be a village secret.

Shada's clan had strange kekkei genkai. First was the Arugan; this doujutsu was constantly active once it awakened, and while it didn't change the looks of the user's eye to make it look flashier, it was very powerful, with a better copy ability than the Sharingan. It could copy any jutsu, including kekkei genkai, causing the user's DNA to actually shift in order to perform any jutsu. It wouldn't allow the user to predict one's movements like the Sharingan, but it would allow the user to copy the Sharingan itself.

The second kekkei genkai was the Arukra. This ability was a second chakra network consisting of black chakra. This chakra was difficult for the user to control as it was unstable and difficult to manipulate. It often destroyed any other chakra it touched besides the user's own chakra.

Shada often wondered how his clan was killed with such powerful jutsu at their disposal, but then again, the Nine-Tails was not a foe to be taken lightly.

The Aru clan lived just outside of the village in a compound in the forest. They were one of the last clans in the land of fire that hadn't officially joined the Leaf Village, despite being a close ally. When the Nine-Tails appeared, they faced it first. All were slaughtered except for Shada, who had been merely a year old.

This also made Shada the protector and host of the clan's greatest secret; the ten-tailed beast, Bakuda the Wolf.

Bakuda was passed down from generation to generation in a seal that he and the founder of the Aru clan had made together. He had chosen to take on a Jinchuriki as a way to suppress a world which he had deemed himself too strong to roam freely through.

Bakuda's power had changed the first Aru's DNA enough to create the kekkei genkai that Shada now possessed. The seal allowed this, however, accessing the demon's chakra was a whole different story. Without a proper seal release, which Shada couldn't perform, he couldn't use Bakuda's power, merely take his advice through their mental connection.

Hiashi Hyuga had been entrusted with Shada after the Nine-Tails had been killed as he had been friends with Shada's father. This had allowed Shada to grow up with two adoptive siblings, both of whom he cared for just as much as if they were blood. One of them, Hinata, was about to take her academy exam, and Shada could only wish that he could take it with her, but he was still being kept secret from the outside world by the Hyuga clan and the Hokage.

As Shada sat in his simple room, filled with shelves of scrolls and a large bed, he thought about all of this.

 _I wish they'd let me out. The only time I've ever even seen an outsider is when that guy tried to kidnap Hinata and I told Hiashi._

 _ **Well, you need to stay safe. You're the last of the clan, meaning that you're my last available Jinchuriki and the last one alive who can protect the tailed beasts.**_

 _How can I protect them when I can't even go find them?_

 _ **Sigh. Just be patient.**_

 _Whatever, you old mutt._

Shada cut off his conversation with Bakuda with a smile as he heard the demon growl. He then walked over to his bed, looked under it, and pulled out a giant scroll with the kanji for wolf on it. He unrolled it and read his name on the end. It was a summoning scroll of the Aru clan Shade had signed in blood when he was six.

Shada's name was right behind his older cousin's, another ninja who hadn't died in the Nine-Tails attack, but rather in another incident. Shada didn't know the specifics as it was apparently classified, but he did know that it had saddened his father, as stated in his father's journal.

Suddenly, Shada's door slid open and two figures stepped in. One was the short, wrinkled form of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wearing his Hokage robes and hat. The other was the tall and stoic Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan, clad in his formal white robes.

"Shada, Lord Hokage wishes to speak with you," Hiashi said.

"Yeah?" Shada asked, looking curiously at the Hokage. "What do you want, Old Man?"

Shada often spoke with the Hokage as he would often visit Shada. So, Shada viewed him as a grandfather and often acted informal with him.

Hiruzen smiled at Shada's teasing and removed the tobacco pipe from his mouth before blowing some smoke and then speaking.

"I've come to make you an offer, Shada," he said. "I would like to give you the chance to take the the Genin exams and try to become a ninja. From what Hiashi tells me, your training has put you at a level where you're more than capable of passing."

Shada began grinning from ear to ear.

"Hell yes!" he shouted.

Hiashi sighed at Shade's outburst while the Hokage chuckled.

"Excellent," Hiruzen said. "You'll be placed in the same class as your sister Hinata until the exam takes place in a short while. I want you to look out for a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki, because you'll be paired with him closely."

"What? Why?" Shada asked.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out eventually," Hiruzen said as he turned around. "Make sure you make it to the academy tomorrow on time."

And with that, the Hokage left.

"You know, you should really have a bit more respect when speaking to Lord Hokage," Hiashi said with a strict look.

"I know, but I can't help it," Shada said while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I think of him as family, not as Hokage."

Hiashi simply sighed again and walked out shaking his head.

 _ **See? I told you.**_

 _Shut up!_

 **-o-**

 ** _Reaper: So, here's the new beginning. Hope you guys enjoyed it._**

 ** _Shada: Don't forget to follow and favorite the author and book._**


	2. The Academy

**_Reaper: Okay guys, so here's the chapter that goes along with episode 1 of the Naruto series. I hope you enjoy._**

 ** _Shada: You changed one letter in my name..._**

 ** _Reaper: Well, I remembered a complaint about your name and, to be fair, it had a point. And while I did only change a single letter, it also changes the pronunciation completely. Shah-Dah. It even changes the syllables._**

 ** _Shada: Whatever. TheReaper0115 owns nothing._**

 **-o-**

Shada was running through the street, trying to figure out the way to the academy. People stared as he ran. He figured that was due to his appearance.

Like every Aru clan member, Shada had strange looks when compared to the average person. His shoulder-length hair was jet black and the skin around his eyes was jet black as well. He was tall, and wore a black bandanna that his hair flowed out of. Shada's eyes were also black and his clothes were black as well. His clothes were also in the traditional shinobi style, being tighter around the lower legs and forearms while the rest was somewhat baggy in order to allow free movement.

Shada had figured that the best way to find the academy would be to search quickly in the direction that Hinata always went in the mornings. He would have gone with her, but…

 _Damn it! Why'd I have to sleep in so late!_

 _ **BWAHAHAHAHA!**_

 _Shut up!_

"NARUTO!"

 _Wait, Naruto? Isn't that the kid that I'm supposed to-OOF!_

Suddenly, Shada was tackled off of the road and into a side alley by a blond, black, and orange blur.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Shada cried before a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Shh!" the owner of said hand hushed Shada while holding a finger over his own lips. The young boy appeared to be only a year younger than Shada. He had spiky blond hair, a black t-shirt, and orange jumpsuit pants. An orange jumpsuit jacket matching the pants was tied around his waist and a pair of green goggles was resting on his forehead. His piercing blue eyes held a devilish streak in them.

Shada noticed two things as the boy clamped his mouth shut; the first thing being that the kid had three whisker-like markings on each cheek. This meant that he must be the child of a Nine-Tails jinchuriki according to the Aru scrolls on the Nine-Tails and the effect it had on its jinchuriki, which apparently included giving any children of that jinchuriki whisker marks.

The second thing that Shada noticed were the sounds of what seemed to be two ninja angrily searching for someone named Naruto. After a few seconds, the sounds moved away, and the boy, whom Shada now realized was Naruto since he had actually seen him a few times when he'd snuck out of the compound, started laughing as he removed his hand.

"That was too easy," Naruto said.

"Where you trying to get away from someone?" Shada asked.

"Yeah, some guys were chasing me because I painted on all the faces of the Hokage monument," Naruto said with a devilish grin.

"What!?" Shada questioned. "You managed to do that in front of the entire village and got away? That's awesome!"

Naruto began blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. Shada realized that this was one of the people he had followed a few times when he'd snuck out of the compound. He was also the same kid who had defended Hinata a few times. The same kid whom Hinata had fallen for.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty awesome," Naruto said smugly before stopping and staring at Shada's face. "Hey, what's up with your face? Your eyes have some weird stuff around them."

"And your cheeks have some weird stuff on them, too," Shada quipped back with a smirk.

"Naruto!" an angry voice growled out.

"AH!" Shada and Naruto cried out together as they spun to face the entrance to the alley.

A man was standing at the entrance of the dead end alley. He had brown hair put up in a spiky ponytail and a slash going across his face so that it crossed his nose. He wore the Leaf Village standard Chunin uniform and had a Leaf Village headband as well.

"Where'd you come from, Iruka-sensei!? What are you doing here?" Naruto questioned grumpily.

 _Iruka-sensei? This must be the guy!_

"No, what are _you_ doing here?" Iruka questioned angrily while pointing a finger at Naruto. "You're supposed to be in class."

 **-o-**

Shada was now standing in from of the classroom next to Naruto, who was tied up and sitting on his butt with his jacket now on properly. Shada had explained to Iruka (or as he now referred to him, Iruka-sensei) that he was a new student and had simply been running late and not known the way to the academy.

Iruka had accepted Shada's excuse and his apology, then showed him the way back to the academy while he dragged back Naruto.

"I'm at the end of my rope here, Naruto," Iruka chastised while Shada looked out to try and identify different students based on what he'd seen when he snuck out and what Hinata had told him. He recognized Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka right off the bat, but the others were harder. He had figured out Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka soon after, but he was now stuck on the last one, a boy in sunglasses and a gray trench coat.

"You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that," Iruka continued. "Tomorrow you've got another chance, and you're messing up again!"

"Hmph!" Naruto said while turning his head defiantly.

This seemed to irk Iruka, but he simply took a deep breath and calmed himself before introducing Shada to the rest of the class. Shada had remembered that the last kid's name was Shino Aburame a second before Iruka did so.

"This, class, is Shada Hyuga," Iruka said, causing Shada to give an obviously fake cough to gain his teacher's attention.

"It's Shada _Aru_ , Iruka," Shada whispered to him. "The Hyuga thing is just on paper for legal reasons."

"Oh, right, I mean, Shada Aru," Iruka said while rubbing his head in embarrassment. "Anyways, he's the adoptive elder brother of our current student, Hinata Hyuga, and will be joining us for the remainder of our class, including the graduation test."

Shada grinned in embarrassment at the stares he was getting before heading over to sit next to his sister per Iruka-sensei's instructions.

"Anyways, since Naruto missed it, the whole class will once again go over the Transformation Jutsu," Iruka suddenly said.

The entire class groaned except for Shada and Sasuke, one of whom thought that it would be fun while the other didn't seem to care one way or the other.

 **-o-**

Soon enough, the entire class was lined up in the front of the room. Sakura Haruno, a girl wearing a red dress and a red ribbon, had stepped forward. Sakura also had jade eyes, long pink hair, and a larger than average forehead.

"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it," she said, throwing up a hand sign. "Transform."

 _A jutsu! Time to copy!_

In a puff of smoke, Sakura suddenly turned into an exact replica of Iruka, still in the same stance.

"Transformed into me," Iruka said. "Good."

Sakura transformed back and began cheering while jumping up and down with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Yes! I did it!" she cried. "Yeah! Yes!"

Suddenly, she turned to Sasuke Uchiha, a boy with black eyes and black hair. He seemed to be in a bad mood by the way he glared at everything. Shada had to fight not to laugh when Bakuda compared his hair shape to that of a duck's butt.

"Sasuke, did you see that!?" she cried.

Sasuke made no response and ignored her.

"Real friendly, huh?" Shada said, nudging Naruto and nodding his head towards Sasuke.

"Yeah, he's always like that. The big know-it-all, acting all tough, like he's better than everyone," Naruto started complaining as Iruka called Sasuke's name, causing him to step forth.

Sasuke quickly threw up a hand sign and transformed into Iruka as well, using the jutsu much faster than Sakura. In fact, Iruka hadn't even finished writing on his clipboard before Sasuke had transformed.

When Iruka looked up, he noticed the exact copy of himself already waiting there, which seemed to be a bit of a surprise to him.

"Uh… good," he said, quickly marking down more notes.

Sasuke changed back and walked away without a word.

"Next; Shada Aru," Iruka said.

The class began whispering amongst themselves as Shada stepped forth.

"Now, I've been alerted that you have only been taught a few techniques by the Hyuga, Shada, which don't include the basic ninjutsu such as the Transformation or Clone Jutsu," Iruka said, "So this won't be graded. Just show me what you can do after seeing some of the others and hearing the brief review I gave beforehand."

"Don't worry, Sensei," Shada said. "I learned it from Sakura."

This seemed to confuse not only Iruka, but the rest of the class as well. Shada just ignored their reaction, threw up a hand sign, and transformed into an exact replica of Iruka.

"H-how!?" Iruka cried.

Shada changed back and began to explain.

"Well, you see Iruka-sensei, my clan has a few special abilities," Shada said. "We have a kekkei genkai called the Arugan. It's a constantly active ability in our eyes that allows us to copy any jutsu we see, so I just copied the Transformation Jutsu off of Sakura."

"I-I see," Iruka stuttered. "Well then, I guess this really will be for a grade. Excellent work, Shada."

Shada smirked and walked over to join Sakura and Sasuke, both of whom were staring at him in surprise.

"Uh, next," Iruka continued, "Naruto Uzumaki."

Shada turned to see Naruto standing between two other students in line. One of them was Ino, one of the two girls who, according to Hinata, bullied Naruto the most (Sakura being the other one).

Ino had long blond hair put up in a ponytail while some was hanging out next to her right eye. She had blue eyes with no irises and wore a dark purple outfit. Her thighs were wrapped in training wraps and her forearms had arm warmers over them.

The other kid was Shikamaru. He had black hair put up into a spiky ponytail and wore a grey jacket over a mesh ninja shirt. He had his hands jammed into the pockets of his dark brown pants and he appeared to be both bored and annoyed.

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru complained.

"We always pay for your screw ups!" Ino added.

"Like I care," Naruto shot back.

When Naruto began to step forward with another devilish grin, Shada noticed that Hinata had a small blush and a smile on her face as well. She also tapped her fingers together shyly.

 _Who would have known that I'd be "paired" with sis's crush? Funny how the world works._

Hinata and Shada were very close, and Naruto had often come up in their conversations. Shada was the only one Hinata was willing to openly confide in about her feelings with Naruto, and Shada had always cheered her on and tried to help her work up the courage to ask him out herself as best as he could.

But Hinata was still too shy to ask out her crush. So, Naruto still remained her object of affection from afar. Shada felt for his sister, but there was nothing he could do until she gained enough courage.

Suddenly, Naruto threw up a hand sign and a large amount of chakra flowed out of him.

 _ **Impressive, but wasteful.**_

 _That's not the same jutsu… it's similar, but the chakra weaving is a bit different._

 _ **Good job. Your Arugan is improving.**_

 _Thanks. Now let's see what Naruto is planning…_

"Transform!" Naruto said as his chakra suddenly caused an explosion of smoke, only to reveal a fully nude woman.

The woman's body was extremely voluptuous and erotic. She had very long blonde hair put up in pigtails, piercing blue eyes, and whisker marks resembling Naruto's. She even took on an erotic pose and blew Iruka a kiss.

Iruka got a nose bleed and fell down from shock as most of the class looked on in shock as well. Naruto simply changed back and started laughing.

"Gotcha!" he cried, pointing at Iruka. "That's my Sexy Jutsu!"

"CUT THE STUPID TRICKS!" Iruka cried after quickly getting up and putting tissues in his nostrils. "THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

Shada had to cover his mouth and hold his breath as he tried not to laugh.

 _Ha! Naruto is a my kind of genius. And he gave me the perfect jutsu! I'll have to practice that one._

 _ **Wonderful. Now we have two idiots.**_

 **-o-**

Shada walked through the streets of the Leaf Village beside his sister. The two were simply going for a walk now that Hiashi had officially told Shada that he was no longer to be kept secret and could live his own life.

"How does it feel to be out of the compound without having to sneak out, big brother?" Hinata asked.

"It feels pretty good, sis," Shada told her. "Like I've been in a prison cell my whole life and now I finally have the key."

"Will you really become a ninja then?" Hinata asked.

"I don't see a reason not to," Shada said. "I mean, I've got all these talents; why not put them to use for the village? I mean, my family died for this place, so I should do all I can to honor their sacrifice and carry on their legacy, right?"

Hinata nodded, then sighed.

"What's up, sis?" Shada asked, looking down at Hinata with concern. "You seem pretty down."

"Oh, it's nothing, just…" Hinata tried to explain her way out of Shada's question, but then she seemed to admit defeat as she let out another sigh. "I'm just a little nervous about the test tomorrow, that's all."

Shada nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about it," Shada said. "You'll do fine. You're chakra control is more refined than mine, and you're no slouch in Taijutsu. You've mastered all of the jutsu that the academy has taught you from what Hanabi tells me, and even if all of that failed, you're Byakugan automatically gets you points with the higher ups, which isn't necessarily right but it's still something to take into account."

"But-"

"No buts, Hinata," Shada interrupted. "You've got even better odds at passing than what I do. So just give it your all and you'll be fine."

Hinata seemed to gain a bit of confidence as she smiled and nodded to her brother.

 **-o-**

The next day, Shada and Hinata were sitting next to each other in class again. Iruka was standing up front and holding a sheet of paper. Today was apparently the day of the test, which surprised Shada as he expected it to take place in a week at the very least.

 _The old man's seriously pushing it here. One day of schooling and then I immediately face the test? What am I, the god of ninja?_

 _ **You'll do fine.**_

"We will now start the final exam," Iruka said. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the Clone Jutsu."

 _I don't know that one!_

 _ **Get Hinata to show it to you.**_

"Hey, Hinata, could you perform the Clone Jutsu real quick?" Shada whispered to his sister. "I was never taught that jutsu."

"S-sure," Hinata said before making a hand sign. Immediately, a copy of Hinata appeared standing beside the original in a puff of smoke. Hinata then released the jutsu, allowing it to disperse.

"Right," Shada said. "Thanks Hinata. I'm just glad that low level jutsu are easy to copy."

 **-o-**

Shada stepped out of the building and walked through the crowd of delighted students and parents.

"Shada!" Shada turned to see Ko, a branch member of the Hyuga family, standing next to Hinata.

"It's time to go home," Ko said.

Shada nodded until he heard two mothers angrily whispering to each other.

"There; you see him?" the first mom asked the second.

"It's that boy," the second mom responded. "I heard he's the only one who failed."

Shada turned to see the mothers and then followed their eyes to find out who they were talking about… only to see Naruto sitting on the tree swing in front of the academy all alone.

"Hmph. Well, it serves him right," mom one continued.

"Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja," mom two stated. "I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Sh!" mom one interrupted. "We're not allowed to talk about that!"

Shada walked up to them and tapped them both on their shoulders, earning their attention.

"Shut up," he told them. "Stop talking about Naruto. He's done nothing to deserve that. Do it again and I'll feed you to my wolves."

Shada activated the Byakugan he had copied off of Hiashi, giving himself a ghoulish appearance thanks to his facial markings and the Byakugan in unison. The women seemed to know enough to shut up just then as they grabbed their respective children and quickly left.

"You really shouldn't defend that boy in public," Ko said as he stepped up beside Shada. "The whole village will turn against you."

"I don't care," Shada said. "Naruto has been friendly to me so far, and I've seen him before during some of the times when I snuck out. He's never done anything worse than pull a few pranks, so why do people hate him so much? They treat him like a demon."

Ko seemed to start sweating a bit once Shada said that.

"Ko, you're terrible at keeping secrets," Shada said, crossing his arms. "What is it about Naruto that you're hiding?"

"Well… I'm not actually allowed to talk about it… it's a law, really," Ko said slowly.

Shada began thinking. Naruto was a twelve-year-old boy shunned and mistreated by most of the village. Sure he pulled pranks, but nothing bad enough for that. Shada had also been told that he would be "paired" with Naruto, which was completely out of the ordinary and didn't make sense since each ninja should be able to stand on their own. So unless the Hokage wanted Naruto and Shada to watch each other for some reason…

"He's like me, isn't he!?" Shada whispered to Ko, finally connecting the dots. "He's a jin-!"

"Yes he is, now shut it!" Ko hissed, fear in his voice. "It's against the law to talk about it. Even he doesn't know."

"Well, that's no reason to mistreat him!" Shada yelled, surprising the entire crowd. "He's just like everyone else! And I doubt he had any choice! According to Bakuda, if it weren't for people like him, no one would even be alive to this day! You should be thanking, but instead, you all decide to be cruel towards what you apparently don't understand!"

Shada turned back to where Naruto had been sitting to see the swing now empty. Ignoring the panicking Ko and confused crowd, Shada jumped up to the roof of the academy and began jumping from roof to roof, heading back to the Hyuga compound by himself so he could cool off.

 **-o-**

It was late at night. Shada was lying in his bed, contemplating how everyone had treated Naruto.

"Naruto must be the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails," Shada said. "It's the only demon that the Leaf has ever really dealt with besides you, Bakuda."

 _ **Well, to be fair, they've never really dealt with me either. In fact, if that night weren't the night of my transference to you, then the Leaf shinobi would have seen me for the first time.**_

 _Because my grandfather would have released you from your seal, right?_

 _ **Exactly. I would have beaten down the Nine-Tailed Fox myself if I had to… although I doubt it would have been very easy. The Nine-Tails is no slouch, even when compared to me.**_

 _Well, that doesn't matter. The Nine-Tails chose the perfect time to attack, completely avoiding a fight with you._

 _ **That it did…**_

"SHADA!" Hiashi's voice called.

Shada's door slammed open and he shot out of his bed.

"H-Hiashi? What's going on?" Shada questioned.

Hiashi was sweating and had a worried look on his face.

"Summon Okami right away!" Hiashi ordered.

Without question, Shada bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood. He quickly formed hand signs, then pressed his bloody thumb to his opposite hand's palm.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Shada shouted.

Shada's chakra dropped a great deal, but thanks to the chakra control the Hyuga had taught him, he wasted very little in the summoning. Still, the summoning jutsu was pretty difficult for his level, so he gained a bit of sweat thanks to the jutsu.

A small white wolf, roughly the size of a cat, had appeared before Shada's feet.

"Sup kid," the small wolf said. "What'd you call me for? I hope you have some meat for me."

"I'll bring you some soon," Shada said. "But first things first; Hiashi, what do you need Omaki for?"

"Naruto has stolen the village's scroll of sealing, a very serious crime," Hiashi said. "Lord Hokage has sent word that he wants you to find Naruto and bring both him and the scroll back. He believes you would be best suited for this. Congratulations Shada; you're first mission will be an A-rank."

"S-seriously!?" Shada questioned. "Naruto stole the scroll? No way! Something's not right here!"

"How about we find the guy first, then try to figure out what's going on?" Omaki said.

"Good idea," Hiashi agreed, leaving the doorway. "Good luck, Shada."

 **-o-**

Shada followed Omaki through the woods, hopping from tree limb to tree limb.

"It's a good thing you told me this kid was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, otherwise I wouldn't know what to look for," Omaki said. "Lucky for you, every jinchuriki always smells a bit like their demon."

"Yeah, no kidding," Shada said. "I guess Ko let Hiashi know that I found out. That's why Hiashi just told me to summon you without any material to help track him by."

"Pretty sharp thinking, kid," Omaki said. "You're probably right."

"Thanks," Shada responded.

Before long, Omaki came to a halt, so Shada landed on the branch beside him.

"Look down there," Omaki said, pointing a paw out towards an orange clad figure on the ground.

Naruto was covered in dirt and sweat, panting heavily and sitting flat on his butt. An old shed was right behind him and a giant scroll was strapped to his back. Another figure was also walking towards Naruto, and Shada recognized it to be Iruka.

Once Iruka reached Naruto, he bent over him, gaining his attention, and said, "It's all over," with an evil 'I win" laugh.

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head and laughed, which seemed to confuse Iruka.

"Well, I'm gonna head back," Omaki said. "Later kid."

"Thanks Omaki," Shada said as the tiny wolf disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Caught me already," Naruto said cheerfully. "Not bad. You're quick, Sensei. I only had time to learn one technique."

Iruka seemed to give Naruto a once over, the look of surprise still evident on his face.

"Listen, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto suddenly burst out. "I'm gonna show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna let me graduate, then everything will be okay!"

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Shada suddenly called out as he leapt over to stand beside Iruka and in front of Naruto, surprising them both.

"Shada?" Naruto questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"I was told you stole the scroll, and then I was sent to find you," Shada said. "You'd better have a pretty good explanation, or else the villagers are gonna have your head; literally."

"But Mizuki-sensei told me all about how if we learn a jutsu from this scroll, then we graduate!" Naruto defended.

"Mizuki-sensei? Isn't that the guy who ran the graduation test alongside you, Iruka-sensei?" Shada asked.

From what Shada remembered, Mizuki was another Chunin with long white hair and a smile that practically spelled out backstabber.

"Yeah, that's him," Iruka said. "He really told you that, Naruto?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you've been tricked!" Shada said. "Mizuki must either be trying to get you killed or he's trying to take the scroll for himself. Possibly both!"

"But he told me where to find the scroll and even showed me this training ground and everything!" Naruto said, shock evident on his face now as well.

"What!?" Iruka cried.

"We need to leave," Shada said.

"TOO LATE!"

Suddenly, about a dozen kunai flew straight toward the group from the direction Shada had just come.

"LOOK OUT!" Iruka cried before shoving both Shada and Naruto out of the way.

Iruka was struck by a one kunai in the leg, but he managed to dodge all the others by millimeters. However, his back had been forced against the wall of the shed.

"I see you found our little hideaway," the attackers voice called out.

"So that's the way it is, huh?" Iruka asked. "I should have known."

Mizuki was crouching on a tree branch. He wore the basic Leaf Village Chunin uniform along with a dark blue bandanna with the Leaf forehead protector sewn onto the front. He also carried two giant shuriken on his back.

"Naruto!" Mizuki cried. "Give me the scroll, now!"

"Wait a minute!" Naruto said. "What's going on here!?

"Naruto!" Iruka cried, pulling the kunai out of his leg. "Don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu that can put this village in grave danger! Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself, for his own power."

"Naruto," Mizuki began with a smile. "Iruka's just trying to scare you 'cause he doesn't want you to have the scroll."

Naruto was taken aback by Mizuki's statement.

"Don't trust him, Naruto. Byakugan!" Shada said, throwing up a hand sign and activating his Byakugan. "Look at the way he's smirking. He's just screwing with your head."

Mizuki smirked some more while Iruka shouted, "Stop lying, Mizuki! Don't let him trick you, Naruto!"

Mizuki then started laughing while Shada took the Gentle Fist stance.

"Oh, I'll tell you who's _really_ lying," Mizuki called down from his branch.

"NO MIZUKI!" Iruka shouted, fear suddenly evident in his voice.

"Is this about that little fox problem that the Leaf has?" Shada asked Iruka, confusing Naruto. "Cause if it is, I don't really care and Naruto should probably know anyways.

"How did you know?" Iruka asked.

"I figured it out earlier today," Shada said with a shrug.

"Smart brat," Mizuki said. "But back to what I was saying; they've been lying to you your whole life, Naruto, since the decree twelve years ago."

"What decree?" Naruto asked.

"Everyone knows except you," Mizuki said.

"I don't know about _everyone_ , maybe everyone who's at least old enough to remember the attack…" Shada said, trying to buy time to figure out an escape plan.

"Iruka's trying to hide it from you even now," Mizuki continued, "He'd do anything to shut me up!"

"What is this decree?" Naruto asked and Shada could see fear on his face. "Why does everyone else know about it?"

"DON'T TELL HIM!" Iruka cried. "IT'S FORBIDDEN!"

"The decree is no one can tell you the Nine-Tailed Fox is inside you!" Mizuki said with a harsh tone of hatred.

Naruto gasped in shock.

"The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You _are_ the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Mizuki cried.

Shada started laughing, catching everyone off guard.

"Oh God, how did you ever make it to Chunin with brains like yours?" he laughed out. "Naruto may be the Nine-Tails host, but that doesn't make him and the fox the same person!"

Shada then turned to Naruto.

"Don't worry, Naruto; you may have the fox in you, but you're still you," he said.

Shada then opened his black ninja shirt and slid his arms out of it, letting it hang around his waist since it was still tucked into his pants. He then pulled his mesh undershirt up to reveal a seal on his chest. The seal had several symbols on it from an ancient language that had died long ago. The symbols were aligned over his left pec to form an 'X' shape.

"This seal on my chest houses the Ten-Tailed Wolf, Bakuda," Shada said. "That doesn't change who I am. Just like the fox doesn't change you, Naruto!"

"Y-you have one too?" Naruto asked in surprise.

Shada nodded as he lowered his mesh shirt and slipped his arms back into the sleeves of his black shinobi shirt.

"That doesn't change the fact that everyone in the village has been sneaking around and hiding things from you your whole life, Naruto," Mizuki continued. "Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt! Like they hated you for just being alive!"

"No!" Naruto shouted as chakra surged around him. "No, no, no, no!"

"Naruto!" Iruka cried out. Shada could hear sadness in his voice.

"That's why you will never be accepted in this village!" Mizuki shot. "Even your beloved sensei hates your guts!"

"Suddenly, Mizuki pulled one of the shuriken off of his back and started spinning it.

"Die, Naruto!" Mizuki shouted before throwing the shuriken straight at Naruto.

"Naruto, move!" Shada yelled, only for a kunai to be thrown at him. He was forced to dodge away from Naruto, too far away to knock him out of the path of the shuriken.

Naruto stumbled and landed on his back.

"Naruto, get down!" Iruka shouted as he jumped into the shuriken's path and let it hit his back. The shuriken stuck itself in his back, but luckily, the wound stayed shallow enough not to kill. Unluckily, it was still deep enough to seriously hinder Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei, are you alright!?" Shada cried.

"I'm fine," Iruka said from where he stayed, shielding Naruto from danger.

Then he coughed up blood.

"But… why?" Naruto asked as some of the blood landed on his right cheek.

"Because we're the same," Iruka said. "When I lost my parents, no one seemed to care. They didn't have time for me. They just forgot I was there…

"My grades dropped. I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me, and to know my name!

"My schoolwork wasn't good enough to get their attention, so I did crazy things. And then I had to pay for it. It was hard."

Tears began to pour out of Iruka's eyes while Naruto stared up at him in shock. Shada listened and watched, but with his Byakugan, he also kept his eyes on Mizuki.

"I know that's how you feel, Naruto," Iruka continued. "You feel lonely and it hurts inside. And I could have been there for you more."

Shada thought about how he always felt in the compound. The other Hyuga would always glare at him and shun him like an outcast. Hiashi, Hinata, Hanabi, and Ko were the only people he could ever even talk to. The others always treated him like dirt, just because he, a non-Hyuga, was accepted by the main branch. However, he found peace with his sisters. He devoted his time and energy to helping them however he could. He cut off the rest of the Hyuga clan except for Hiashi and Ko.

"I let you down," Iruka said. "I'm sorry. No one should have to suffer that much. No one should be alone like that."

Mizuki chuckled before shouting, "Don't make me laugh! Iruka always hated you! He was orphaned because the Nine-Tailed Fox killed his parents, and that beast is now inside you. He'd say anything to get the scroll from you!"

"I was orphaned because of the fox, too," Shada said. "If anything, I'm grateful for Naruto. Without him, that thing would still be rampaging. I mean, that's kind of how seals work, you know."

"Oh please, you're only saying that because you want those jutsu for yourself!" Mizuki cried.

Just then, Naruto bolted deeper into the forest.

"Naruto!" Iruka cried. "Narutoooooo!"

"You know, once he makes up his mind, nothing can change it," Mizuki said snidely just before he began jumping from tree branch to tree branch in the same direction as Naruto.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei; I won't let Mizuki get that scroll!" Shada said as he leapt into the branches and began chasing after them.

Shada finally caught up with Naruto only to see Iruka with him. He inspected them both closely with his Byakugan and realized they were both transformations.

"Naruto!" the fake Iruka shouted. "Everything Mizuki said was a lie! Give me the scroll, hurry! He's coming after you to take it away!"

Suddenly, the fake Naruto launched himself at the fake Iruka, planting a fist in his gut. He then launched him towards the forest floor before following him and then sitting down in front of a tree, taking off the scroll and setting it beside him as he did so.

"It can't be," the fake Iruka said as Shada stopped on a tree branch above them. "How did you know… Naruto? How did you know-"

The fake Iruka suddenly changed into Mizuki in a cloud of smoke.

"-that it was me and not Iruka!?"

The fake Naruto chuckled before changing into Iruka in a cloud of smoke while the scroll changed into a log.

"Because _I'm_ Iruka," Iruka said.

Mizuki stood up and smirked.

"You're a fool," he said. Why are you protecting that _freak_!? He's the one that wiped out your family!"

Just then, Shada noticed Naruto sitting down behind a tree and holding onto the scroll thanks to his Byakugan.

"I don't care what you say," Iruka stated with his own smirk. "You're not getting your hands on that scroll!"

"As if you could stop me," Mizuki shot. "Don't you get it? Naruto is just like me!"

"How's that?" Iruka said with a scowl.

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance," Mizuki said with dark delight. "That's how beasts are. He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything!"

For a moment, Iruka stayed silent, but then he said, "You're right…"

 _WHAT!?_

 _ **Wait just a moment, Shada. Don't make hasty assumptions.**_

Shada saw Naruto tighten his grip on the scroll and gain a hurt look.

"That _is_ how beasts are," Iruka said.

Naruto's look became one of shock.

"But that's not who Naruto is," Iruka continued. "He's nothing like that. Naruto's one of a kind. Works hard, puts his whole heart into it.

"Sure, he messes up sometimes, and everyone jumps on him. But his suffering only makes him stronger. That's what separates him from being a beast.

"So you're wrong; he's nothing like the Nine-Tailed Fox. He's Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!"

Shada saw Naruto begin to weep and smiled… until Mizuki reached for his second shuriken.

"You really believe that drivel?" Mizuki asked as he held the shuriken. "Iruka, I _was_ gonna save you for later, but I changed my mind."

Shada quietly landed behind him and used the Gentle Fist style Hiashi had started teaching him to strike a chakra point in his hand, rendering it useless and forcing him to drop the shuriken.

"You should really keep your guard up," Shada said as he took the stance Hiashi had shown him for a special Gentle Fist attack. "Now, you're in range."

Shada was crouched with one arm in front of him and the other behind him.

"Gentle Fist Art; Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms!" Shada shouted.

Mizuki spun around just in time for Shada to strike his first two chakra points.

"Two palms!" Shada cried before continuing. "Four palms!"

Shada began striking every chakra point he could see, causing Mizuki's body to slowly shut down.

"Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms!"

Mizuki had started coughing blood and crying out in extreme pain,but Shada wasn't quite finished. He struck his palms against Mizuki's chest for the final two hits.

"Sixty-four palms!"

Mizuki landed on the ground right in front of Iruka.

"I may not be a master of that jutsu yet, but it's still enough to take you down," Shada mocked.

"Oh really?" Mizuki growled out angrily as he slowly struggled to get to his feet.

 _I'm starting to get tired from all of this chakra use. But I won't let Mizuki get away with this!_

"Hey!"

Mizuki, Iruka, and Shada all turned to see Naruto with a deadly look on his face, the scroll laying down behind him.

"If you ever lay a hand on my sensei or my friend… I'll kill you!"

 _Friend, huh? I like the sound of that._

 _ **Shada Aru and Naruto Uzumaki; the demons of the Leaf!**_

"Such big words," Mizuki wheezed out as he began to recover from Shada's earlier attack. "I could completely destroy you in a single move!"

Naruto put his hands up in a strange sign, crossing two fingers from each hand to make a plus sign.

"Take your best shot, fool," Naruto said with a dark look. "I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!"

"Let's see you try!" Mizuki cried angrily. "Show me what you can do, Nine-Tailed Fox!"

"For the last time, you idiot," Shada said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance at Mizuki's stupidity. "He's not the fox; he just _contains_ the fox. Say it with me; con-tains."

"Shut it, brat!" Mizuki shouted as he slowly raised his arms to try and make a sign. "It's time for all of you to die!"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto suddenly shouted.

Luckily, Shada saw Naruto perform this new jutsu, creating a thousand of himself in one go and giving Shada a new jutsu, albeit one he'd have to practice.

"A thousand solid clones…" Shada said in awe. "Amazing… simply amazing!"

Iruka stared in shock and Mizuki looked around him in fear as he was now surrounded. All of the Naruto's began mocking him by saying things like "Over here!" or "No, this way!", causing Mizuki to become not only scared, but confused.

"If you're not coming, then we're gonna come after you!" one of the clones threatened.

Mizuki simply screamed as the army of Naruto's simply dove at him and began pummeling him. Shada deactivated his Byakugan and sat down beside Iruka to enjoy the show.

 **-o-**

Once dawn came, Mizuki was battered, bloodied, and bruised while neither Shada nor Naruto had a scratch on them. Naruto then walked over to his two comrades.

"So, we're friends already, huh?" Shada asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but don't let it go to your head now that you've got a future Hokage as a friend," Naruto said with a goofy smile.

"Ha!" Shada cried out. "I'll try not to as long as you make sure you don't get a big head by being friends with a genius like me."

Shada and Naruto both began laughing.

"Hey Naruto, come here a minute and close your eyes," Iruka said. "There's something I wanna give you."

Naruto did as he was told and Shada smiled as Iruka took off Naruto's goggles and replaced them with his own headband.

"Sensei, how much longer?" Naruto whined as Iruka finished tying up the back.

"Alright," Iruka said. "You can open your eyes now."

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at Iruka's bare forehead for awhile.

"Congratulations," Iruka said. "You graduate!"

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"And to celebrate, I have a surprise," Iruka then added. "We're going out for ramen tonight!"

Naruto closed his mouth and began to smile as tears came out of his eyes.

"Huh?" Iruka said.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto suddenly shouted in joy as he tackled Iruka to the ground and began hugging him.

"Hey, that hurts!" Iruka said with laughter in his voice while naruto laughed and wept from joy. "Ow, cut it out! Naruto!"

Shada smiled until he realized something.

"So, uh… who's gonna explain this to the Hokage?" Shada asked, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and groan in unison.

 _ **BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**_

 **-o-**

 _ **Reaper: So how was that?**_

 _ **Bakuda: Long and drawn out.**_

 _ **Reaper: Sigh. Look, I'm trying here, okay?**_

 _ **Bakuda Uh-huh. Right. Don't forget to favorite or follow the author and story if you enjoyed this chapter.**_

 _ **Reaper: Also, leave a review and let me know what you think. If you didn't like it and want to let me know, then leave constructive criticism, not flames.**_

 _ **Bakuda: The difference is the fact that flames are just petty insults and prods while constructive criticism provides** **useful** **information by letting the author know his mistakes without calling him or the work by names.**_

 _ **Reaper: So if you have a problem, don't be rude; just let me know how you think I could fix it. Thanks!**_


	3. The Mighty Konohamaru!

_**Reaper: Hey guys, I'm back.**_

 _ **Bakuda: Finally!**_

 _ **Shada: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?**_

 _ **Reaper: Sorry, sorry, I was busy. Had no choice. Between school, family, job, girlfriend, and life in general, I barely had time to do anything.**_

 _ **Bakuda: This had better be worth the wait.**_

 _ **Shada: Agreed.**_

 _ **Reaper: I own nothing!**_

 **-o-**

Naruto Uzumaki and Shada Aru stood on the roof of the Hokage tower, preparing to get their pictures taken for their ninja identification papers. Naruto was in the seat in front of the camera as he would go first while Shada would go next.

"Listen kid," the old photographer said to Naruto. "You sure you want me to take your picture like that?"

"Just do it," Shada said while trying not to laugh. "There's no way you'll be able to convince Naruto to change his mind."

"Alright, but don't blame me later," the photographer said.

When the picture was taken, Shada busted out laughing. In the photo, Naruto's face and hands were covered in white paint with red swirls. He held one hand out to the camera and bore a mean look on his face. His hair even had gel in it and was hand spiked, which Shada didn't quite get since Naruto's hair was spikey on its own.

 **-o-**

Shada and Naruto both sat in chairs in a room before the Hokage and a civilian assistant. They were both presenting their photos. Shada had taken a simple photo by just looking at the camera and smiling, so his photo had passed the Hokage's inspection just fine.

Naruto's photo was still in the Hokage's hand, being stared at. Naruto just rubbed his head bashfully.

The Hokage groaned while Shada tried not to laugh. Naruto failed to notice either of these bad signs and began to explain.

"At first, ya know, I couldn't figure out exactly how to do it," he said with a cheerful tone. "It took me, like, three hours to work it out and stuff. But, finally, I got it. Like, an art project on my face, only cooler."

Naruto then chuckled a bit and allowed his pride to show on his face. Shada looked at the Hokage with an expectant smile.

" _Your move, old man,"_ he thought to himself.

"Take it again," the Third said sternly.

"Hm?" Naruto responded with confusion on his face… then the Hokage's words really sank in.

" _ **Here we go,"**_ Bakuda said with happy anticipation as Naruto's look of confusion became one of anger. " _ **Hiruzen Sarutobi has made the first move."**_

"No way!" Naruto shouted angrily.

" _And Naruto Uzumaki gives it right back with astonishing obstinance, as is his usual strategy."_

"We can't accept this photo," the Hokage stated.

" _ **It seems that Hiruzen has decided to fight fire with fire today."**_

"Yeah!?" Naruto shouted, leaning forward on the edge of his seat. "Well I'm not doing it again!"

" _Oh, but Naruto refuses to give an inch here!"_

The two stared each other down for a full thirty seconds before either one said anything else.

" _ **It seems the two are both taking a bit of a breather."**_

" _Both opponents have already traded blows and are now gauging their opponent's capabilities. Each of them should be taking this opportunity to come up with a strategy or two that can win them this match."_

" _ **Hiruzen still holds the advantage as the authority figure here."**_

" _But will that really help him win against someone as stubborn as Naruto?"_

Suddenly, Naruto threw up a hand sign, and Shada recognized the jutsu he was about to use.

"Transform!" he shouted, turning into a nude blonde girl with whisker marks, her privates covered only by a thin veil of smoke.

Naruto let out a feminine giggle before saying, "Pretty please, Lord Hokage?"

The Hokage stared in shock for a moment before his nose erupted in blood and his chair fell back.

" _ **Hiruzen is down! Hiruzen is down!"**_

" _Oh my God, what blow! He may not recover from this, ladies and gentleman! Naruto Uzumaki may have just won this match!"_

Naruto transformed back with a surprised look on his face while the Hokage twitched on the floor. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting a reaction of that degree.

After Naruto and Hiruzen had both taken there seats once more, Hiruzen began wiping the blood away with a handkerchief.

"That's the Sexy Jutsu, you say?" Hiruzen asked. "Very tricky; much too tricky! Don't do it again!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"And where is your headband, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked. "You're supposed to be wearing it!"

"Oh, I'm not putting it on until the orientation," he responded, fiddling with his goggles now. "I don't wanna mess it up."

"So, you want your headband nice," the Hokage continued, "but your photo, which is supposed to identify you, makes you look like a clown! It's for ninja training and missions, which is the key to your future."

He then picked the picture back up off of his desk.

"Look at this picture; you can't even tell who it is!" he said.

"Well fine!" Naruto shouted. "How am I supposed to know all this complicated stuff, anyway!?"

"By paying attention," Shada said with a smirk.

"Hey, who's side are you on here!?" Naruto rounded on Shada.

"Just stating the facts," Shada said with a laugh.

Just then, the sound of someone handling a weapon came into the room. It was faint, but every ninja in the room heard it and looked at the door just before it slammed open.

"Old man!" a little kid shouted. "I challenge you!"

The boy wore a strange grey headpiece with an orange dot on the left side and a frowny face on the right side on it that covered almost all of his hair, but allowed a long, messy, dark brown ponytail to sprout out of the back. He had a very long blue scarf, a yellow shirt with a red Hidden Leaf crest on the front, and grey shorts. A shuriken was in his hand.

The boy ran towards the Hokage while shouting, "I'm going to defeat you and become the fifth Hokage!"

Just then, the boy tripped over nothing, slamming face first into the floor.

"Um… okay?" Shada said while Naruto groaned in embarrassment for the kid and Hiruzen hid his face under his Hokage hat.

Just then, a man in a navy blue ninja suit with a red swirl on each arm ran into the room and looked upon the scene from the doorway. He wore round sunglasses and had shortly trimmed black hair the barely showed thanks to his navy blue bandanna with a leaf village forehead protector sewn into the front, which is exactly what Shada had done with his bandanna.

"Something tripped me!" the kid shouted as he slowly got up from the floor.

The guy at the door began gasping repeatedly as he looked around the room before he finally asked, "Are you okay, Honorable Grandson?"

"Honorable Grandson?" Shada asked, confused about what kind of title that was supposed to be.

"And by the way," the strange man said while adjusting his sunglasses. "There's nothing here for you to trip on; it's pretty flat."

Just then, the kid noticed Shada and Naruto, and he gave them both an angry look. Then the man looked over to see what he was glaring at, only to gain a surprised and then angry expression when he noticed Naruto.

"Alright, you're the one who tripped me, aren't you!?" the kid shouted, walking over and angrily jamming a finger in Shada's face.

This irked Shade, so he stood up and looked down at the kid with a hint of aggression.

"And why accuse me, runt?" Shada asked coldly.

"Because you're the most suspicious looking one here!" the kid shouted back.

Just than, Naruto shot up, grabbed the kid by his shirt, and lifted him up to his eyes level, which was still about five inches below Shada's eye level, but still quite a few inches off the ground for the kid.

"You tripped over your own feet, dork, so watch who you're talking to!" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, you!" the guy in glasses suddenly shouted. "Take your hands off of him, right now! He's the honorable grandson of the honorable Third Hokage!"

"Hm?" Naruto said.

"Well, Gramps?" Shada asked, looking over to the Hokage. "You gonna stop us?"

The Third remained silent and still.

"Well?" the kid suddenly said with a smirk. "What's the matter!? Weren't you two gonna do something? Afraid cause the Third Hokage is my grandfather?"

That pissed Shada off, simply seeing how arrogant the kid was. From what he could tell, Naruto felt the same.

"I don't care if he's your grand _mother_!" Naruto suddenly shouted.

"And neither do I!" Shada shouted angrily.

Shada punched the kid in the gut while Naruto released him, causing him to go further up into the air a bit until Naruto send him back to the floor by punching him across the top of the head.

"Believe it!" Naruto shouted as the kid hit the floor and stayed there, now unconscious.

 **-o-**

Naruto and Shada walked down the street, heading towards the Ichiraku Ramen noodle shop. Ever since Iruka had taken them both, Shada had gotten hooked. The Ramen was just too good for him to resist.

"You noticed it, right?" Shada suddenly asked, referring to the kid from the Hokage's office who was currently following Naruto and himself.

"Mhm," Naruto responded with a nod.

Shada and Naruto both quickly turned around to see a balled up blanket the same color as the dirt road sitting in the middle of the street with two feet coming out of the bottom. Shada walked forward and stomped on it.

"Ow!"

The kid threw the blanket off and stood up with a smile.

"Saw through my disguise, huh?" he asked cheerfully. "The rumors about you two are true; you're good!"

"Rumors?" Shada asked. "You expect me to believe that there are actual rumors about how we're both skilled? Oh, please."

"Alright!" the kid said, ignoring every word from Shada's mouth. "I'll be your apprentice and you two will be my trainers!"

Naruto and Shada both looked at each other, blinked a few times, looked back at the kid… and began laughing.

"Hey, don't laugh at me!" the kid shouted angrily. "I want to learn the Sexy Jutsu you used on Grandpa Hokage!"

"Quit kidding around, runt," Shada said once both he and Naruto stopped laughing.

"I'm not kidding!" the kid said desperately. "I need a new trainer!"

He looked at Naruto and said, "Please, Boss?" then turned to Shada and said, "Please, Sensei?"

"Boss?" Naruto asked, gaining a gleam in his eye.

"Sensei?" Shada asked, noticing Naruto's gleam and taking it as a bad sign.

"Yeah!" the kid said, first pointing to Naruto,, then Shada as he said, "Because you're the boss and you're the sensei!"

" _How can one be in charge while the other is the teacher?"_

" _ **Who the hell knows?"**_

"Well…" Naruto began while rubbing the back of his head.

" _No!"_

"How can I refuse?"

" _You stupid son-of-a-"_

" _ **Just help the kid out, Shada. Can't hurt, can it?"**_

" _...Whatever."_

"Alright, I'm in too," Shada agreed. "The name's Shada Aru."

"Oh, and I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto shouted happily.

"So what's your name?" Shada asked.

"Konohamaru!" the kid shouted happily.

 **-o-**

"Listen," Naruto said as the three walked down the street together. "You wanna be a master ninja? Then believe it! You gotta learn to control your catra."

"His what?" Shada asked.

"His Catra!" Naruto said, a little louder this time.

"Uh, boss?" Konohamaru asked, getting Naruto's attention. "I, uh, think you're talking about chakra."

"Oh, uh, right!" Naruto said. "I was just testing you. Good job!"

"Alright!" Konohamaru shouted while Shada rubbed the bridge of his nose.

" _This kid is so gullible."_

"Listen," Naruto suddenly said, "I'll explain what chakra is-"

"Chakra is the elemental life energy that is used to perform jutsu," Konohamaru said, cutting him off.

"Heh!?" Naruto said in surprise.

"The ninja arts combine physical energy from each cell in the body with mystical energy, which is intensified through training and experience. When these two energies mix, they form chakra, which can be manipulated, most easily through the use of special hand signs, allowing a ninja to perform advanced jutsu."

Shada looked down in surprise at the kid's knowledge… only to see him reading from a scroll.

"Know-it-all!" Naruto shouted. "You were just reading that whole thing!"

 **-o-**

"Yo," Naruto said. "You can blab all you want about how to do ninja techniques, but it really comes down to one thing.

"What is it?" Konohamaru asked seriously.

"Just plain hard work and guts," Naruto stated matter-of-factly.

"That's two things, but for once, Naruto's right," Shada said. "Even those with natural talent can only go so far unless they put in enough effort. If you can give it all you've got and fight tooth and nail, then you can become the strongest."

"I'm with you!" Konohamaru shouted.

"Alright, I'm gonna throw some really big challenges at you now," Naruto said. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready, Boss!" Konohamaru shouted.

"Good," Naruto stated happily. "Then let's do it; show me a transformation."

"Huh?" Konohamaru asked.

"Transform into me," Shada said. "That way we can start with the body type you already know; lean male."

"Believe it," Naruto said. "Go on; show us what you can do and we'll take you to the next level."

"Oh, alright," Konohamaru said with a nervous look before throwing up and hand sign and building up chakra. "Transform!"

Shada immediately noticed a problem with the boys chakra, even before the fat, big-lipped, one-eyed, pale-skinned copy of himself appeared before him.

"Hm," Shada hummed thoughtfully. "Your chakra control was good at first, but it seems you have a hard time maintaining your focus towards the end. Understandable, given your age."

Konohamaru transformed back and shouted, "And what's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means that younger people have more trouble with focus," Shada said while lightly bopping Konohamaru on the head. "Don't get offended so easily; it's a simple fact that the younger you are, the more likely you are to be distracted. It's like that for everyone."

Konohamaru just rubbed his head and pouted.

"Alright, now we need to get started on female beauty!" Naruto shouted.

"Huh?" Shada asked.

 **-o-**

"You're joking?" Shada asked.

"Nope," Naruto said with a mischievous smile.

The trio stood before an adult magazine shop in the middle of town.

"I'm not going in there," Shada said. "If my sisters found out, they'd never look at me the same again!"

"Your loss," Naruto said. "Let's go, Konohamaru!"

"Alright, Boss!"

Roughly ten minutes later, Naruto got thrown out, battered, bruised, and with his right eye blackened and swollen shut, while Konohamaru ran out behind him without so much as a scratch.

"Didn't go so well, I take it?" Shada asked Naruto, who was lying face down in the street.

"Don't worry," Naruto said, lifting his head out of the dirt. "I've got a plan B."

-o-

"HELL NO!" Shada shouted, blocking the entrance by standing in the way in the Key Lock Fist stance.

Naruto was transformed into his Sexy Jutsu state, only he was the same height, less busty, and still in his jumpsuit. Konohamaru was turned into a very fat female with swollen lips, a bloated head, some fat poking out of the bottom of his shirt, and only enough hair to copy his normal messy ponytail, the rest of his head being bald.

"Come on!" Naruto said in the high pitched voice he used for Sexy Jutsu. "We have to show Konohamaru female beauty!"

"I said no!" Shada yelled. "Both of my sisters use this hot spring, you sickos! Besides, spying on women like that is just creepy and wrong!"

"What was that about spying?" someone said from behind Shada with a dangerous tone of voice.

Shada looked behind him to see a very pissed off looking Ino and Sakura.

"Oh, perfect timing," Shada said, stepping to the side. "Would you two kindly show Naruto and Konohamaru here why they shouldn't peek in on the women's baths?"

They charged and Naruto simply gulped.

 **-o-**

"Why do they only whack me?" Naruto asked, his body covered in more scrapes and bruises while Konohamaru was still untouched.

The group was now standing in the forest of one of the training areas within the village.

"Sorry," Konohamaru said while looking at his feet.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"It's cause I'm the grandson of a Hokage," Konohamaru said.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Naruto said with a smile.

"Huh?" It was Konohamaru who said it this time.

"Naruto was the one who dragged you into those things anyways, so he deserves punishment more than you do either way," Shada said, causing Naruto give him a dirty look.

"Anyways," Naruto continued, looking back down at Konohamaru. "I prepared you, so now you're ready to learn the Sexy Jutsu."

Naruto then gave him a thumbs-up.

"Believe it; you're just gonna need to practice."

Konohamaru sat there with a stunned look on his face before finally smiling and saying, "Practice; all right, Boss!"

The next few hours were grueling, and Shada wasn't even the one doing the training.

"Now the trick is to get all the curves in the right places," Naruto said. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready, Boss! Transform!"

One puff of smoke later, there stood the same transformation Konohamaru used as the bath house, only this time with more hair, light pink panties and a light pink sports bra. Shada almost puked at the sight of it.

"What do ya think?" he asked in a clearly faked deep voice.

"I think I want to carve my own eyes out," Shada said.

"No go!" Naruto shouted. "You've gotta make her skinnier."

Konohamaru transformed back into himself and said, "Skinnier! Right, Boss!"

Konohamaru transformed.

"Hi," Came the deep voice.

How's that?" came Konohamaru's real voice.

"Focus more," Shada said. "Maintain a clear picture in your mind."

"And make it curvier!" Naruto shouted.

"Curvier! Right, Boss! Thanks, Sensei! How's this!?"

Konohamaru transformed again.

"This is gonna be a long day," Shada said.

 **-o-**

Naruto took another sip from his can of soda.

The trio had found a few vending machines tucked away in the training ground and decided to buy a small snack for a break. Now they all sat on a log together a few yards away from the machines.

"So, what's up with this obsession you've got with your grandfather?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"My Grandfather named me Konohamaru," Konohamaru said after a moment of hesitation, "after the ancient name of the village. So it should be easy to remember.

"But no one calls me that name; not one person in the whole village! That's cause, when they look at me, they don't really see me. All they see is ' _the honorable grandson of the Lord Hokage_ '. No one knows who _I_ am.

"I can't stand it anymore. It's like I'm invisible! Like I don't exist… I _hate_ that. That's the reason… I've _got_ to become the Hokage _now_ , so people know who I am!"

Shada blinked a few times, then looked at Naruto, who sat between him and Konohamaru.

" _So… they're the same. They both just want to be Hokage so others will finally acknowledge them."_

"Get real!" Naruto suddenly said. "You think people are gonna accept a squirt like you?"

"Naruto!" Shada said scornfully.

"A kid can't just turn into a Hokage after a day or two," Naruto continued.

"What!?" Konohamaru shot up and yelled angrily.

"It's not that simple," Naruto continued once more. "You keep saying 'Hokage, Hokage!' To _really_ be a Hokage, you know what you'll have to do?"

"What?" Konohamaru asked. "What is it?"

Naruto then grinned like a maniac.

"You're gonna have to defeat me in battle!" he said.

"I FOUND YOU!"

Naruto and Shada suddenly shot up to stand next to Konohamaru and face the source of the new voice. It was the guy with sunglasses from the Hokage's office, glaring down at them with a hateful, especially towards Naruto. He then jumped down from the tree limb he was in and landed before the.

"So, Honorable Grandson," the man began, "time to go home."

"No way!" Konohamaru shouted. "I'm learning how to beat my grandfather so I can get the title Hokage. NOW DON'T GET IN MY WAY!"

"A Hokage is more than just a fighter," the man continued while walking towards them. "He must know virtue, honor, wisdom, and he must be skilled at a thousand jutsu. You don't even know _one_ jutsu."

Konohamaru immediately scowled and threw up a hand sign.

"Transform!" he shouted.

This time, Shada saw no problems with the chakra manipulation, other than a bit of over usage, but nothing too serious.

"Huh?" the man said, stopping and staring out of what appeared to be curiosity.

Just then, a naked girl with long black hair appeared, holding her hands behind her hand and smiling, only a thin layer of smoke covering up her private areas.

"Hi there," she said in a playfully seductive voice. "Like my jutsu?"

Konohamaru then transformed back as the man began shouting out in shock.

"What-what-WHAT KIND OF SCANDALOUS TECHNIQUE IS THAT!?" the man shouted as Shada and Naruto just stared. "Such tasteless vulgarity can _never_ influence me! I am _far_ above it!"

The man then ran forward while Konohamaru turned to run and grabbed the end of the boy's scarf. Thus began a tug-of-war between the two.

"Honorable Grandson, stop this!" the man shouted. "Right now!"

The man then gave Naruto a dirty look.

"Naruto's turning you into a delinquent!" he said harshly. "Only my special training can put you on the fast track to becoming Hokage!"

That irked Shada a bit.

"First of all, you creep," Shada began, earning the man's attention as he stepped forward, "the is no 'fast track' to becoming a Hokage. You have to earn that the hard way; no shortcuts. Second of all, Naruto isn't turning him into anything. If anything, Naruto's acted kinder and better towards Konohamaru than what you ever have!"

"Excuse me!?" the man said, releasing his hold on Konohamaru.

"You don't even use his real name, nor acknowledge him as himself. He's just a symbol of Gramps to you, isn't he!?"

The man didn't take kindly to that, as Shada was sent flying into the vending machines by a kick he only noticed after he'd gone five feet.

CRASH!

Shada hit the cement flab that the machines sat on, glass falling around him from the now smashed in machine.

"Ow," Shada groaned. "Hit me all you want; it doesn't make you any less of a jerk."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Shada looked up to see roughly fifty Naruto's scattered around the area, prepared to fight.

"Whoa!" Konohamaru shouted. "This is… unreal!"

"Hmph," the man said simply with a smile as he pushed up his sunglasses. "I'm not impressed. I'm a Jonin, an elite ninja warrior. I'm not some lightweight like Mizuki."

He then walked towards the center of the large group of Naruto's.

"Watch," he said, "how a _real_ ninja defeats an upstart."

The man hunched over and took his own stance.

"Ready?" he asked.

All of the Naruto's threw up a hand sign.

"Transform!" they all yelled in unison.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by naked female Naruto's. The man stood no chance as they lunged at him, shouting thing like "Master" and "We love you".

When they were done, they all disappeared, and when the smoke cleared, only the real Naruto remained, back in his original state. He stood over Konohamaru's passed out teacher, who had a fairly concerning amount of blood coming from his nose.

"Gotcha," he said, "with my Harem Jutsu."

 **-o-**

"Oh man!" Konohamaru shouted, now that they were in an entirely different training area, though it looked a lot like the other area. "I couldn't even beat the snobby trainer of mine!"

The trio had made a break for it after the trainer (Ebisu, Konohamaru had said his name was) was rendered unconscious. It was now sunset, so they were getting ready to say their goodbyes.

"I wanna be Hokage so bad," Konohamaru continued. "But I keep messing up! Why can't I do it!?"

"You really think it's that easy?" Naruto asked.

"Huh?" Konohamaru responded.

"The Hokage are some of the most powerful ninja to ever live," Shada said. "They were also some of the wisest and most experienced. Each of them worked hard to reach that point, so just a few days isn't all it's gonna take."

Naruto nodded in agreement before saying, "He's right, ya know. You have to prove yourself so everyone believes in you.

"Look at me! I've been through a lot already; I've been ignored, pushed away, and treated like I have the plague or something. And after all that, I found _one person_ who believes in me. To find that one person, I had to get knocked down a lot."

" _You think he's talking about me?"_

" _ **Actually, I think he means Iruka."**_

" _Eh, that's fair."_

"So you better make sure that you're ready," Naruto continued.

"For what?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto turned away before saying, "For lots of sweat… and tears… while you're learning to be a ninja."

Naruto then chuckled a bit and looked back.

"By the way," he said, "Shada was right about what he said to Ebisu-sensei. There is no easy way to becoming Hokage. Believe it."

Konohamaru wore a stunned expression for a minute, then smiled, then turned around.

"Ha!" he shouted. "Who do you think you are, anyway, giving me a big lecture like that!? That's it; I'm not going to be your apprentice anymore."

Konohamaru then looked back at Naruto and said, "From now on, we're rivals."

The boy then smiled and gave a chuckle, showing off the fact that one of his teeth were missing from the top row.

"Well, Naruto's about to be a bit too busy to train you, anyways," Shada said while putting his friend in a playful headlock from the side. "Because tomorrow, he and I are going to be taking our next steps in our lives as ninja and getting assigned to teams. But I'm sure he'll be able to spare a bit of time to take you on as a rival."

"Yeah, and someday, we'll fight for the title of lord Hokage," Naruto said with a smile from his trapped position. "So let's both look forward to that day… Konohamaru."

And with that, Shada released Naruto and the two both began walking home. They even raised their hands in a sign of farewell.

" _Ya know… I truly believe that one day… they can both do it."_

" _ **If he does… then he'll be the most interesting Hokage I've ever met. And I've met them all."**_

 **-o-**

 _ **Reaper: How was that?**_

 _ **Shada: WE WAITED FOR THIS SHIT!? COME HERE!**_

 _ **(Series of loud crashes and shouting)**_

 _ **Bakuda: Don't forgot to follow and favorite the author and book if you liked the story or writing style. Also, leave a review, whether it be a compliment, question, or suggestion. Constructive criticism instead of flames please.**_

 _ **Shada: I'LL KILL YOU!**_


	4. Friends in Training

**_Reaper: Sup guys. I just got finished with this chapter, getting ready to start on the next._**

 _ **Shada: Each of the Rookie Nine who weren't given a proper description before will receive one in this chapter.**_

 _ **Bakuda: Reaper is doing this because he believes that the book should be readable even for those who've never watched the series.**_

 _ **Reaper: Yes I am! Now, onto the chapter; hope you guys enjoy!**_

 _ **Shada: Good luck.**_

 _ **Bakuda: TheReaper0115 owns nothing!**_

 **-o-**

Shada marched right into the classroom with Hinata at his heels and a smile on his face. He tapped on the the forehead protector that he'd sewn into the front of his bandanna thoughtlessly. He then looked back and smiled at his sister.

"Wanna sit with me, Sis?" he asked. "I'm sure Naruto wouldn't mind you joining us."

She turned bright red.

"N-no thank you, Elder Brother," she said before dashing off to a secluded corner.

Shada chuckled and shrugged before moving down to one of the desks towards the middle of the room and sat down. A few minutes late, Naruto sat down beside him.

"Hey, Naruto," Shada said. "You lookin' forward to this?"

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted happily. "Believe it!"

Just then, Shikamaru walked down the aisle, only to stop beside them. His black hair was still up in a ponytail and he still wore the same outfit; fishnet ninja shirt, short grey jacket with green trim, and brown combat pants. The only thing different about him was the Headband tied around his left jacket sleeve.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" he asked. "This isn't for dropouts; you can't be here unless you graduate."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked before jutting a thumb towards the ninja headband he now wore on his forehead. "Do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru; it's a regulation headband."

Naruto then gave him a huge grin and said, "We're gonna be training together; how do ya like that?"

"Humph," was his response.

"Let me put it to ya this way," Naruto continued, "I look great in this headgear; like it was made for me. Believe it!"

Naruto then laughed while Shada noticed that Sasuke had just appeared on the opposite side of him from Naruto.

Sasuke had black hair that spiked back and black eyes. He wore a blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back, grey shorts, and grey arm warmers with blue trim.

Shada thought he saw Sasuke staring at his eyes a few times, but never long enough to be sure. But, then again, he was also soon distracted by high pitched arguing.

Shada turned to look at the doorway in time to see Sakura and Ino force their way in at the exact same time.

"I'm first!" they shouted in unison while spreading their arms out.

The girls both lowered their arms and began trying to catch their breath before glaring at each other.

"I win again, Sakura," Ino said.

"Give it up," Sakura responded. "I had to look _back_ to see you. My toe was _at least_ a tenth of an inch ahead."

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino asked.

Just then, Shada noticed Naruto staring at Sakura with a blush on his cheeks. He slapped his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Shada asked.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Those girls are the loud and obnoxious jerks of the class, Naruto," Shada said. "And besides, from what I understand, don't they both pick on you a lot?"

"Yeah, but Sakura's-"

"Real pretty, yeah, yeah," Shada said. "Looks aren't everything, Naruto. First, maybe you should find a girl who actually has a decent personality."

Sakura wasn't actually anything special in Shada's eyes. She had long pink hair, black ninja shorts, and simple red dress with some white trim. She also had a large forehead, which she kept uncovered by using her headband to hold bag her hair, and jade green eyes.

Ino wasn't too impressive either to Shada, obviously trying way too hard. She had long, platinum blond hair put up in a long ponytail with bangs that framed the right side of her face along with pale blue eyes with no pupils. She wore a dark purple, almost black outfit with grey arm warmers and visible thigh wrappings. She seemed to be the only girl in class with earrings (though they were just small rings), the waist of her dress was pinned to her by more wrappings, and her headband was around her waist.

Shada was, of course, going solely based off of what Hinata had told him about their personalities as he had no personal experience with either of the girls. But he did want to help his sister out, so he figured that step one of getting her a date with Naruto would be removing the competition.

Was it manipulative and wrong? Yes. Did he care? No. Because that's how much he loved his sisters.

Still, Shada couldn't understand what any guy would see in them. Maybe it was because they were so loud and rude, and most guys thought that they were headstrong and brave? He didn't get in. His sister, Hinata, had short, dark blue hair, pale Hyuga eyes, cream-colored skin, a heavy, tan jacket, and wore the village headband around her neck. To Shada, she seemed perfectly able to beat them in looks, and he was the last person on earth to even think about looking at her that way.

Just then, Sakura turned and her eyes locked onto Sasuke. She looked delighted. She then looked at Shada and seemingly became enraged.

Sakura ran towards them and shoved Naruto out of the way. She then tried it with Shada, but he saw it coming and locked himself in place by grabbing onto the bench that he, Naruto, and Sasuke were on.

"Move over so I can sit next to Sasuke!" she growled out.

"No way!" Shada said, grabbing Sakura's wrist and tossing her over the table and onto the table one row in front of them.

Shada then stood up and looked around the classroom before announcing, "Okay! I know I'm still the newbie here, but let's get one thing straight; I'm no weakling and I don't take too well to being pushed around. From now on, anyone here who decides to start something with me, my sister, or Naruto will answer to me; got it!?"

The class seemed stunned. Apparently, they weren't used to seeing a boy who didn't accept being hit by a girl.

"Good."

Shada said back down and huffed.

"You didn't have to be so mean!" Naruto whispered angrily.

"She's a bully, Naruto," Shada said. "And I don't get bullied."

Shada then turned to Sasuke.

"How do you put up with them constantly dogging you?" he asked.

Sasuke looked at him for a moment before turning forward again.

"I don't see what's so great about him," Naruto whispered grumpily.

"He's quiet and cool," Shada said. "It's just the type of attitude that girls love, so of course, someone like you, who's loud and brash, won't be too popular. Don't worry about it, though; the girls who fall for that aren't the ones you want to be with anyways."

Shada then looked at Sasuke and smiled apologetically.

"Of course, that doesn't mean I have anything against you," Shada said. "I'm just saying; you attract a lot of sheep."

After a while, everyone took their seats and Iruka entered, causing the class to fall still and silent. After a few short moments, he began to give a small speech.

"As of today," he said, "you are all ninjas. To get here, you've faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult.

"Now, you are only Genin; first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads, except for one experimental group of four to see test out how much man power one group can hold without being handicapped. Each squad will be led by a Jonin; an elite ninja."

Ino and Sakura, who sat beside each other in the row behind Shada along with Shikamaru, began talking snidely to each other.

"Well, _someone's_ gotta be in Sasuke's group," Ino said with a smirk. "I wonder who?"

"I don't know," Sakura responded with a glare.

A displeased grunt was all that came out of Sasuke.

 _"An ideal group for me would be a pairing with Naruto and Hinata, though if I get the four man group, then I wouldn't mind having Sasuke added in. Byakugan, Sharingan, Arugan, and the Nine-Tailed Fox? We'd be unstoppable."_

Soon enough, Iruka began calling out the squads. He went through six before coming up with any names that Shada recognized.

"Squad Seven!" he yelled. "Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto perked up.

"Shada Aru!"

"Yes!" Shada and Naruto cried in unison before fist bumping.

"Sakura Haruno!"

"Damn it!" Shada and Sakura said in unison while Naruto rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"And, the fourth member, Sasuke Uchiha,"

"Yay!" Sakura shouted.

"I'm doomed," Naruto moaned.

"Well, at least the last member is someone with skill, though I would have preferred to have Hinata on our team instead of Sakura," Shada said.

"Next, Squad Eight!" Iruka continued. "Hinata Hyuga!

"Yes sir," Hinata responded in barely more than a whisper.

"Kiba Inuzuka!"

Kiba, a boy with a thick, hooded, gray jacket with black fur trim, some red face paint in the shape of a downward spike on each of his cheeks, and above average canines, sat up and grinned. He now wore a Hidden Leaf headband on his forehead.

"Shino Aburame!"

Shino pushed up his sunglasses, he too now wearing the village headband on his forehead.

Sakura turned to Ino and gave her a peace sign.

Ino growled and shouted, "How did _you_ get in his group!?"

"I don't get it," Shikamaru said in a bored tone. "What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru," Ino said. "Don't you get it?"

"No, I don't get it, cause I'm not a girl," Shikamaru answered.

Ino sighed in defeat.

"You are so full of yourself," Ino said. "Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on _your_ squad."

"You're right," Shada said. "You'd need someone bigger so he could carry all that slack of yours, right Ino?"

Shikamaru snickered while Ino growled angrily.

"Now, Squad Ten," Iruka continued once more. "Ino Yamanaka. Shikamaru Nara."

Ino gasped.

"Ha!" Shikamaru cried. "Did you say something about 'hating' to be on my squad?"

Ino growled again.

"You should really stop that growling," Shada said. "It makes you sound like an angry shih tzu."

Another growl was her response.

"And Choji Akimichi!" Iruka called.

Choji, the heaviest kid in the class, was munching on chips up front. Ino looked depressed the second Iruka said his name.

Choji had chubby cheeks with light red swirls on them and wore a strange headband that had a third strap going over the top of his head, causing his brown hair to shoot out on either side of it. He also wore a dark green jacket, a white shirt with the kanji for "food" on the front, brown shorts, earrings similar to Ino's, and white body wrappings around his lower legs, hands, wrists, and forearms.

" _Wow, he's really plowing through those chips."_

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted while standing up and pointing at Sasuke. "Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke!?"

"Naruto, I heard that Sasuke's beaten you every time you came to blows," Shada said.

"That's ancient history!" he shouted.

"Why?" Shada asked. "Because you learned a forbidden jutsu? Face it; he's got skills and he can clearly keep his head, so there's no point in picking a fight. Let's try to get along first."

"Just make sure you all stay out of my way," Sasuke said.

"Not helping, man," Shada said to Sasuke.

"Hmph," was his response.

 _ **"Arrogant brat, isn't he?"**_

"After lunch, you'll meet your new Jonin teachers," Iruka said. "Until then, class dismissed!"

 **-o-**

Shada walked out of the door to the academy only to see Naruto heading towards Sakura, who was facing the other way.

"What are you doing, Naruto?"

"Hey, Sakura!" he called, getting her to turn around. "Since we're in the same group and all, I thought we could have lunch together and get to know each other."

"Why would I eat lunch with you?" she asked, her voice like ice. "How could that thought even cross your mind?"

"I told you, Naruto," Shada said, earning the attention of both of the other Genin. "She doesn't care about anyone besides herself and her crush. If you're not popular or useful, you're nothing to her. Sound about right, Sakura?"

"W-what do you mean?" Sakura asked, confusion on her face.

"I mean, you're a heartless shrew," Shada said before turning to his friend. "Look, just because she's the loudest doesn't mean she's the toughest, the bravest, or the best. From what I've seen, she's just another jerk with a loud mouth. I'd suggest finding someone who actually cares about you."

"Excuse me!?" Sakura said angrily. "It's not my fault that Naruto's annoying!"

"Just because someone is annoying is no reason to bully them twenty-four-seven," Shada said. "Besides; at least Naruto knows the meaning of kindness. You were cruel the second I met you. Always acting so privileged, even though you have no real power from what I can tell, always looking down on others, probably so you don't become the target like you probably were in the past; am I ringing any bells?"

Sakura looked stunned.

"H-how did you-?"

"The Hyuga taught me a lot about reading people, and to me, you're an open book," Shada said before turning to his friend once more. "Let's go, Naruto; I can introduce you to someone who's actually nice and wants to talk to you."

Naruto looked uncertain for a moment before sighing sadly and nodding.

"Oh, come on, no need to be down," Shada said as they both walked away from a still stunned Sakura. "Ichiraku Ramen; my treat."

Naruto perked up a bit at that.

 ** _"Pretty crafty."_**

 _"Oh yeah! I'm like the dark cupid!"_

 **-o-**

The trio of Shada Aru, Naruto Uzumaki, and Hinata Hyuga sat in Ichiraku Ramen, each eating their own bowl of miso pork ramen. Hinata sat in between Naruto and Shada, blushing furiously.

"So, you two are brother and sister, huh?" Naruto asked the two.

Hinata tapped her fingers together and tried to speak.

"U-um, w-w-well, uh…" she stuttered.

Shada tapped her shoulder, passing chakra to her. For some reason, whenever either of them did that to the other, it cheered the recipient up and steeled their nerves. Hiashi once told them it was probably because of how close they were as siblings, making them even stronger when they felt the other's energy. Pretty useful, given Shada's depression at being cooped up and Hinata's shyness.

To be honest, Shada never understood her nervousness. It must be stemmed from her innocent attitude and her strict father doing his hardest to mold her into the perfect heir. Shada could tell that Hiashi was only doing it out of love, but for someone so good at reading others, his tact really sucked.

Hinata immediately perked up and her blush lightened once Shada passed her his chakra.

"Well, um, yes, but only because Elder Brother was adopted by the Hyuga as a baby," Hinata said.

"Ah," Naruto said. "So that's why Shada wanted you on our team instead of Sakura."

"Well, she's talented and strong, plus we trained together, so we're pretty in sync," Shada explained. "Her only problem is her shyness, but it's really not that big of an issue."

"E-Elder Brother!" Hinata said with a returning blush.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto suddenly said with a serious tone, causing her and Shada both to look at him curiously. "Be honest; do you have a crush on Sasuke like all the other girls in class?"

Shada blinked. Naruto looked sad and Hinata looked shocked. This question had been shot out of the blue, but Shada thought he knew where this was coming from; all of Sasuke's admirers seemed to hate and bully Naruto, and he seemed to want to make sure Hinata wouldn't do the same. Either that, or maybe he was just tired of everyone paying attention to Sasuke and ignoring him.

"N-no!" she cried. "I don't like Sasuke like that at all! I know he's strong, but… but so are you, Naruto!"

Hinata immediately seemed to turn even redder than a tomato.

 _"I don't have the chakra to fix this amount of embarrassment."_

 _ **"You'd run dry before making a dent."**_

Naruto, however, smiled at this.

"Thanks, Hinata!" he said cheerfully.

Hinata blushed and stuttered out, "Y-you're welcome, N-Naruto."

For the next few minutes, Naruto told stories of how he'd fought off a bunch of bullies by himself, though Shada was certain it was just a bunch of bull. But still, it was fun to listen to, especially since his sister seemed so happy. Unfortunately, their lunch break could only last so long.

"Hey guys, we should start heading back," Shada said. "We don't want to get distracted and stay here too long. Besides, we can continue this inside the classroom."

"Eh?" Naruto cried. "But it was just getting good!"

"Let's go," Shada said while activating his Byakugan in order to creep Naruto out.

"Okay," Naruto said with a creeped out look on his face, obviously too freaked out to argue.

Hinata giggled at their antics.

 **-o-**

As the group was returning from Ichiraku, they noticed Sakura, who was sitting by herself on a bench with Sasuke approaching her from the opposite direction from them.

Shada's curiosity reared its head, so he grabbed Naruto and Hinata, tossed them behind some trees, and hid behind one himself, motioning for them to be quiet by pressing a finger to his lips. After that, he peaked out and spied on the two.

Sasuke reached Sakura and she stood up with a blush that Sasuke seemed to either not notice or ignore. Given that he obviously wasn't as dense as Naruto, Shada assumed he was ignoring it.

"Sakura, I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"O-of course, Sasuke!" Sakura said cheerfully. "Anything!"

"Okay," Sasuke said. "Now, I know you've only known Shada for about as long as I have, but I'm trying to learn more about him."

Naruto and Hinata both seemed surprised by this and gave Shada questioning looks, but Shada shrugged at them, just as baffled as they were.

"Why do you want to know about him?" she asked.

"That's not important," he said.

"Well, all I know is that he's rude," Sakura said. "He's got a knack picking apart my insecurities just by looking at me, and he only seems to get along with Naruto, though he doesn't seem to have too many problems with you or Hinata from the way he's talked."

"Well, he seems to hold an interest in Naruto, so tell me," he said, "What do you know about Naruto?"

Sakura looked at the ground, and when she spoke, Shada heard nothing but contempt.

"He knows about my feelings, and he purposely tries to get in the way. He enjoys interfering and making me feel bad. Naruto… he doesn't understand one single thing about me!"

Sakura then ground her teeth a bit before spitting out the words, "He's just annoying!"

Naruto pouted a bit at that, but he soon recovered.

Sakura then looked directly at Sasuke, who'd remained silent and attentive the entire time.

"Besides," she continued, "He always picks fights with you for no reason. You know why he's so annoying? 'Cause he wasn't raised right! He doesn't have a mother or father; no one to teach him right from wrong."

Sasuke's face suddenly hardened and his attentive stare became a glare directed at Sakura.

"Think about it!" she continued yet again. "He just does whatever comes into his head! If I did things like Naruto, forget it! I mean, my parents would get mad, and I'd get in trouble, so of course I don't do it!"

She then seemed to grow thoughtful.

"You know, I heard a rumor that Shada was only taken in by the Hyuga because his dad and Hinata's were friends, so it would've been wrong to let him live alone. But I bet they just let him stay there without any real love and care, so of course an orphaned misfit like him would befriend someone just like him, that being Naruto."

 _"Low blows… a shame that I know better."_

 ** _"Hiashi Hyuga may not be the best father, but even I know that he cares for you just as much as his daughters."_**

"Well, I suppose that I can't really expect much from either of them," Sakura said nonchalantly. "I mean, if you don't have parents to tell you, how will you know how to behave?"

 _"Isn't Sasuke an orphan like Naruto and myself?"_

 _ **"That's a nice hole she dug there. Must have taken a lot of work."**_

"They're both selfish and bratty!" Sakura complained. "And they're all alone!"

 _ **"Well, except for that GIANT FAMILY THAT ADOPTED AND RAISED ME, yeah, I'm pretty lonely. Plus my best friend, Naruto, and the ancient demon in my head."**_

 _ **"Yo."**_

"Alone," Sasuke suddenly said. "Isolated."

"Huh?" Sakura responded.

 _"I feel… anger."_

Shada looked into Sasuke's eyes and felt a tingle run down his spine.

 ** _"Pain, anger, hatred… he carries the makings of the next Madara Uchiha."_**

 _"Who?"_

 _ **"The most powerful Uchiha to ever live, and the only man to ever rival the First Hokage."**_

 _"Well… cool."_

 _ **"** **The First was also forced to kill him because he threatened the village."**_

 _"Ah… less cool then."_

"It's not about your parents scolding you," Sasuke continued. "You have no idea what it means to be alone."

"W-why are you saying that?!" Sakura asked.

"Because," Sasuke said, "You're annoying."

Sasuke turned around and walked away. Shada was just about to take the other two and leave himself, when suddenly, Hinata ran out and made a beeline for Sakura. When Sakura noticed her, she still seemed a bit stunned by Sasuke's words.

"Oh, hey Hinata, I-" Sakura started.

"You're wrong!" Hinata all but shouted, surprising everyone present. "Naruto and Elder Brother aren't like that at all!"

"Wait, you mean, you heard what I-" Sakura started once more, only to be interrupted again.

"Naruto works hard and tries to be cheerful, despite being mistreated and looked down upon by everyone!" Hinata said fiercely. "He gives it his all and never gives up, no matter how many times he may fail or what anyone says about him!"

Hinata looked back briefly with a nervous look, took a deep breath, then turned right back around and continued.

"And brother was never ignored by the clan! He's one of us, and he cares about us just like we care about him! He isn't as mean as you say; he only acts that way when he thinks he has to. He's always defended me and my sister; he's our brother, so please don't speak so poorly about him, or Naruto!"

And with that, Hinata's rant ended. Everyone seemed taken aback as she slowly made her way back to Naruto and Shada, revealing their location to Sakura. None of them said a word, but Shada hugged his sister before the three jumped into the trees and began branch hopping their way back to the academy.

 **-o-**

 _ **Reaper: So, what did you guys think?**_

 _ **Shada: Are we EVER gonna get a real fight scene?**_

 _ **Bakuda: Patience, Shada.**_

 _ **Shada: Yeah, yeah. Well, readers, follow and favorite the author and the book to read more about myself and other OC badasses in the future.**_

 ** _Reaper: And don't forget to leave a comment! Thanks._**

 ** _Bakuda: Until next time._**

 ** _Reaper: Alright Bakuda, kill the lights!_**

 ** _Shada: Wait, don't tell him tha-_**

 ** _Bakuda: TAILED BEAST BOMB!_**

 ** _Reaper: I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY!_**

 ** _Shada: HIT THE DECK!_**

 ** _(Explosion)_**


	5. Sensei

**Reaper: Sup guys!**

 **Shada: You're late.**

 **Reaper: Hey, I've been really busy, okay! I've been doing Scouts, AF JROTC, Mana House-**

 **Bakuda: You're worse than Obito.**

 **Reaper: Screw you both! Just read the stupid chapter.**

 **Shada: TheReaper0115 owns nothing.**

 **-o-**

"He's late!" Naruto cried.

Team Seven was back in the classroom. They had returned along with every other student, only to be the last group left as their sensei still hadn't shown up.

Sasuke was sitting at the desk closest to the corner, silently staring at the door. Sakura was standing in front of the desk next to his and leaning back on it, looking at the floor and remaining silent for once, likely still embarrassed after her confrontation with Hinata.

Naruto had the door half slid open and was poking his head into the hallway, looking for any sign of their sensei. Shada was balancing himself on his pointer fingers on top of the teacher's podium at the front of the room.

"Just relax, Naruto," Shada said with difficulty, struggling to maintain both focus and strength. "He'll get here when he gets here. Nothing we do will change that, so just sit down."

"I don't want to!" Naruto said angrily while turning back towards the others. "How come _our_ teacher is the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll; believe it!"

Shada sighed just before Naruto spun around and continued.

"The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka sensei's gone too!"

Shada shook his head and smirked when he even heard Sasuke sigh. Then he heard Naruto moving something around and turned his head back towards him.

Naruto was standing on top of a stool, putting a chalkboard eraser between the door and the frame at the very top.

"What are doing, Naruto?" Shada asked.

"That's what he gets for coming late," Naruto said with an evil grin. "Surprise!"

"Hmph," Sasuke earned Shada's attention. "Our teacher's a Jonin; an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?"

"He's right, you know," Shada agreed. "There's no way that that'll hit him unless he wants it to."

Just than, a hand wearing a finger-less shinobi glove gripped the door. Everyone held their breath as that same hand was followed by a grey-haired head as the door was slid open.

The Jonin instructor wore a face mask that ran up from his shirt to cover his mouth and nose. His headband seemed to have slightly more cloth on the left side, acting as an overkill eye-patch and working with the mask to cover the entire left side of his face, meaning that only the upper right portion was visible. The most interesting thing to Shada, however, wasn't his mask, but rather, his hair; despite being grey, it didn't seem to be from age as it stood stood up, spiky and thick, as if he wasn't any older than thirty at most.

Just then, the eraser hit the man on the head, surprising the entire room except Naruto, who started laughing while Shada lost his balance and landed on his head on the podium before falling the floor.

"I got him!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the man while failing to even notice Shada, who was currently rubbing the fresh bump on his head and looking upon the scene with interest.

" _That shouldn't have hit. He must have let it. But why?"_

" _ **HAHAHAHAHAHA!"**_

" _Jesus, what's with the psychotic laughter?"_

" _ **Ah, Kakashi Hatake. You've been given an excellent sensei, Shada, if he learned anything from his teacher. I wonder how he's been all these years…"**_

" _What? You know him?"_

" _ **I used to know him well. My previous Jinchuriki, your older cousin, Haji Aru, was partnered with a boy named Obito Uchiha, who was on Kakashi's team under the tutelage of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Obito died, but the village requested that Haji be assigned to Kakashi instead of returning to clan duties. Your father accepted their request and Haji joined Kakashi and the other member of their team, Rin Nohara, which ultimately led to his death. And before you ask, no, I can't tell you what happened until you are of high enough rank or you absolutely need to know."**_

" _Okay… so Kakashi sensei here and this 'Rin' person are the only two members of their team still alive?"_

" _ **That's right. Last time I checked, they were a couple, though that was when you were still barely a year old."**_

" _The last two people… man, that must suck."_

" _ **Indeed. Well, let Kakashi know I said hello. After all, he's one of the few people who've met me and are still alive to tell the tale."**_

" _Uh… okay. Wait, met you!?"_

 ** _"A story for another day, perhaps."_**

Shada gave Kakashi another once over, noting that he wore the leaf village ninja vest and navy blue ninja clothing underneath, along with the classic ninja boots.

Kakashi stepped into the room completely and picked the eraser up from the floor. He then looked at the group.

Naruto was grinning at him boisterously, Sakura and Sasuke were both staring curiously, and Shada was slowly standing up. Kakashi towards Shada once he stood up and began walking towards him.

"Um, you're name is Kakashi Hatake, right sensei?" he asked, unsure of how to approach this situation.

Kakashi blinked, then smiled under his mask.

"And you must be Shada Aru," he said. "I assume your little friend told you about me."

Kakashi tapped the left pectoral region of his chest at the last part, surprising Shada.

" _He knows where the seal is."_

"Uh, yeah," Shada said, rubbing the back of his head. "He says hello, by the way."

" _ **Ask him how Rin is doing."**_

"He also wants to know how Rin is doing."

"Oh, she's doing fine," Kakashi said while still smiling. "In fact, she and I got married a few years ago."

" _ **Congratulations!"**_

"He says congrats," Shada finished.

Kakashi nodded and said, "Thanks."

Shada nodded back to him before stepping back to stand beside Naruto, who was staring at him like he'd grown a second head, as were Sakura and Sasuke.

"I'll explain later," Shada said, waving them off for the time being.

"Hm, how can I put this…" Kakashi sensei said thoughtfully while holding his chin and closing his one visible eye. "My first impression of this group… you're a bunch of idiots."

" _Ouch."_

" _ **Ha!"**_

 **-o-**

The group now sat on the roof of a building that doubled as a rest spot. Kakashi sat on the railing the prevented people from getting too close to the edge while the Genin, including Shada himself, sat on some steps in front of him. From Kakashi's left, they sat in the order of Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and Shada.

"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi asked. "One at a time."

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked, speaking up for the first time since getting yelling at by Hinata. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like. Things you hate," Kakashi said, holding his arms out in an "I don't know" fashion. "Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that."

Kakashi then folded his arms and looked at them all.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto asked. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work?"

"Me?" Kakashi asked. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like, and things I hate… well, I like my wife, and that's all I feel like telling you about that."

"Huh?" Sakura, Naruto, and Shada asked in unison.

"My dreams for the future…" Kakashi continued. "Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."

"Well that was totally useless," Sakura whispered to the others. "All he really told us was his name."

"Uh huh," Naruto agreed while Shada nodded and Sasuke said nothing.

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right, with the bandanna; you first."

"Uh, alright," Shada said. "My name is Shada Aru. I like my family and friends, plus the Ramen Naruto introduced me to. I hate people who give up too easily and those who judge others for no good reason. My dreams for the future would be restoring the Aru clan and simply helping others around me to the best of my abilities. My hobbies include training, reading, and spending time with my sisters."

"Alright," Kakashi said with a nod. "Next, you with the blond hair."

"Believe it," Naruto said, adjusting his headband. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop, which is what I showed to Shada. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is… to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!"

"Interesting," Kakashi said in a bored tone. "Whichever one of you wants to go next, go ahead."

"I'm Sakura Haruno!" Sakura said cheerily. "What I like, uh… I mean, the person I like is…"

Sakura blushed heavily and looked towards Sasuke.

"Oh, good grief," Shada said under his breath.

"Uh, my hobby is, uh… my dream for the future is…"

After all of that, Sakura simply buried her face in her hands and squealed.

"And?" Kakashi asked. "What do you hate?"

Sakura suddenly stopped. She looked at Shada and Naruto for a moment, then looked at the ground. Shada saw regret in her features.

"I hate people who assume they know everything, and those who look down on others just because they think they can," she answered.

"I see," Kakashi said before turning to Sasuke. "Last one."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said slowly. "I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly 'like' anything."

Sakura, Naruto, and Shada all turned to Sasuke. The very chakra that Shada felt from him seemed to grow colder as he spoke.

"What I have isn't a dream," Sasuke continued, "because I _will_ make it a reality; I'm going to restore my clan as well, and destroy a certain someone."

Kakashi wore a bored expression while Shada, Naruto, and Sakura simply stared at Sasuke. Naruto gulped. Sakura's eyes shone with admiration. Shada made a mental note to keep an eye on his dark teammate.

"Good!" Kakashi suddenly interrupted Shada's thoughts. "You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"Yup!" Naruto shouted while giving a salute. "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task that the five of us will do together," Kakashi said slowly.

"What, what, what, what!?" Naruto asked, leaning forward in excitement.

"A survival exercise," Kakashi answered.

"Huh?" Naruto asked. "Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice," Sakura complained. "We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here!"

"Sounds interesting to me," Shada said. "I've never trained with you guys before."

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi said cryptically.

"So, uh… So, uh… what kind of training is it, then?"

At that, Kakashi actually started chuckling. Coming from him, it sounded downright unnatural, and all it did was freak Shada out, though Naruto felt the same if his face was any indication.

"Hey, hold on," Sakura said. "That's a normal question. What's so funny?"

Kakashi chuckled some more, then said, "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it."

"Well, tell us anyways," Shada said. "Better we know now."

"Alright," Kakashi said, suddenly turning serious. "Of the twenty-eight graduates who just came here, only nine, or, depending on this team, ten, will actually be accepted as Genin. The other eighteen or nineteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass/fail test, and the chances for each team to fail is at least sixty-six percent."

Shada's eyes widened in shock. Naruto's mouth hung open. Sakura looked sick. Sasuke looked pissed.

"See?" Kakashi asked. "Didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy!" Naruto shouted. "We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for, anyways!?"

"Oh, that," Kakashi said while a hawk cried above them. "That was just to select the candidates who _might_ become Genin. Or not."

"WHAT!?" Naruto cried.

"I agree with Naruto," Shada said. "I may not have been in the academy, but I studied and trained under the Hyuga longer than I can remember, all in the hopes of becoming a ninja someday. Now you're telling me that after earning this (he jutted his thumb up to his forehead protector) I could already have it stripped away!?"

"That's how it is," Kakashi answered sternly. " _I_ decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five A.M., and bring your ninja gear."

Naruto suddenly looked sicker than Sakura.

" _I'm going to pass even if it kills me. I'm not going to just give up this chance."_

Kakashi then stood up and turned around before waving them off.

"That's it," he said. "You're dismissed."

Then he seemed to remember something.

"Oh," he said, looking back at them. "Tomorrow, you better skip breakfast, or else… you'll puke.

 **-o-**

Shada sipped some of the famous Hyuga tea from a simple thermos meant to keep it warm. Hinata had made it for him that morning and given it to him once he had exited his room fully dressed. She had been able to wait for him thanks to her much later testing time.

" _Ah, Hyuga tea. Not only delicious, but extremely healthy; it genuinely makes the body much more limber and promotes healthy muscle growth._

Shada was currently sitting on top of his black hiking pack, which he'd put on the ground and, and was now watching his teammates approach him from three different directions, each one following a different path.

Sakura, who was on the southern path, rubbed her eyes and yawned out, "Morning." She had a pink shoulder back on, obviously carrying her gear in it.

"Mohi," Naruto struggled out through yawns, one arm stretched straight out as he walked forward with his eyes half-lidded. He was leaning forward in order to balance his green hiking pack in his half asleep state.

Sasuke looked fine, in all honesty, a black shoulder bag strapped to him.

"What are you here so early for?" he asked Shada once he was close enough.

"The Hyuga compound isn't too far away and my cousin was being a nuisance, so I decided to just come here early," Shada said with a shrug and a hateful thought towards his adoptive cousin, Neji Hyuga.

The others soon sat their packs down with Shada's and began to with him. By the time their waiting ended, thought, it was almost noon.

"Morning everyone," Kakashi said, walking up from south, a dark green hiking pack strapped to his back. "Read for your first day?"

"Hey, you're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted while Kakashi waved.

"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way," he said, pointing behind him and smiling underneath his mask.

" _ **Ha! Liar. And he used to be so punctual."**_

"Sensei, even Bakuda says you're lying," Shada said, making the man rub his head bashfully.

"Who's Bakuda?" Sakura asked, looking around. "I don't see anyone else here."

Shada, glad that a tucked in ninja shirt was easy to come out of, pulled his arms out of his sleeves and let the shirt fall so that it hung from his waste. Sakura blushed at the sight of his well toned upper body and looked like she was about to start shouting until he pointed at what appeared to be a black wolf's head tattoo on his left pec.

"This is the Aru Demon Seal," he began. "It's used to seal the Ten-Tailed Wolf inside a host, and the Aru clan have used it for generations. This means that, currently, a demon technically more powerful than the Nine-Tails is sealed inside of me. Luckily, he's friendly, and even if he wasn't, the only thing he can actually do is talk to me like some kind of voice in my head."

Sakura and Sasuke both seemed taken aback by this, thought Sasuke showed it far less.

"I'm surprised you told them so willingly," Kakashi said.

"Hey, we're teammates," Shada said. "They were gonna find out sooner or later, if we pass, that is. Might as well get it out of the way now."

"Wait, if it's the Ten-Tails, then why'd you call it Bakuda?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you didn't think that every tailed beast was named after its tails, did you?" Shada asked. "For example; the Nine-Tails' real name is Kurama. So, Bakuda is the real name of the Ten-Tails."

Naruto nodded. "I think I get it."

"Wait, you have a demon in you!?" Sakura cried.

"Well, they're not really demons, but that is what we humans have grown accustomed to calling them, so yeah, I suppose I do," Shada responded.

"Well, that'll be helpful," Sasuke said with a sudden smirk. "Even if you can't access his power, he must have a pretty vast wealth of knowledge we could put to use."

" _ **Hm… interesting; that's almost exactly what Madara said when he met one of my earlier Jinchuriki and was told of my existence."**_

"Well, I'm glad you're okay with it," Shada responded to Sasuke. "I already told Naruto, and Sensei's already worked with a previous Jinchuriki. So, what do you think, Sakura?"

Sakura blinked for a moment, then noticed that all eyes were on her.

"Uh, well," she blubbered for a moment before regaining her composure. "Well, you don't seem too bad, so I guess it's fine."

Shada smirked.

"I just might have to start calling you guys friends," he said.

Kakashi then coughed.

"That's good and all, but how about we get back to the mission?" he asked.

Everyone turned back to him as he walked over to a trio of wooden posts and placed a timer on top of the middle one.

"Here we go," he said before clicking a button on top. "It's set for noon."

Kakashi then pulled out three bells.

"Your assignment is very simple," he said, holding up the bells. "You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it."

Shada gritted his teeth. Getting bells from a Jonin, even with four Genin, would be next to impossible. Either Kakashi was going to go easy on them, or there was some trick. Then, he noticed that there were only three bells.

Kakashi then jingled the bells again, earning his attention.

"If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch," Kakashi said.

"Ah!" Naruto shouted in horror as Kakashi pointed to the three posts, the middle of which still had the timer on it.

"You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you," Kakashi finished.

" _That son-of-a-he told us to skip breakfast just because of this! We'll be short on chakra. Well, it's a good thing I still have some chakra and food pills in my gear. But still, my belly would like a meal…"_

Shada heard the others' bellies growl along with his, almost in agreement with his train of thought.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura said suddenly. "There's four of us; how come there's only three bells?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Shada added.

Kakashi chuckled, smiled, then said, "Well that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy. Then again, all three of you could flunk out, too."

" _ **Welcome to the bell test, Shada. Invented by the Sarutobi clan and used for generations. Your grandfather, father, and elder cousin all went through it. Now… it's**_ **your** _**turn. And I won't be helping. Good luck"**_

After that, Bakuda's voice faded away while laughing maniacally.

"Damn it," Shada whispered under his breath.

Shada then looked around to see everyone's determined faces. No one wanted to go back, and they looked willing to fight in order to prevent it, whether it be against their sensei… or each other.

"You can use any weapons, including shuriken," Kakashi said as he jerked the bells up by their strings and then closed his fist around them. "If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are too dangerous, sensei!" Sakura cried.

Naruto laughed and said, "Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser!"

"He let it hit him," Shada corrected Naruto, surprising him. "My best guess is that he wanted to make us underestimate him for this purpose. Trust me; if we so much as graze him with a shuriken, it's because he wanted us to."

"How do you know all that?" Sakura asked.

"Kakashi Hatake, the 'copy ninja'. Said to know over a thousand jutsu, and even to possess the Sharingan," Shada cited. "Jonin since he was twelve, fought in the Third Great Ninja War since a bit before even then. Several villages were given a kill on sight order for him."

"I'm impressed," Kakashi said while the others gaped, especially Sasuke after Shada had mentioned the Sharingan. "Tell me; how did you know all that?"

"Old man Hokage gave me a set of bingo books, one from each of the other major villages, for my thirteenth birthday," Shada said with a smirk. "You're in all of them. I just didn't know it was you until Bakuda told me your name. Luckily, I've got a really good memory."

"No way this geezer is so great, not after that prank!" Naruto shouted.

"I'm telling you, he let it hit him," Shada repeated.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links," Kakashi suddenly said. "You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores; losers."

Naruto gave Kakashi a harsh look at the word "loser".

"When I say 'start', you can begin," Kakashi said.

Suddenly, Naruto pulled a kunai out of his back, got a good grip on it, and charged Kakashi sensei.

"Naruto!" Shada shouted.

" _Idiot! We haven't even started. And beyond that, does he really think he can take a Jonin by himself? Hot-blooded fool!"_

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, Naruto's head in on hand, and the hand the held the kunai in the other, now pointing the blade at the back of Naruto's head.

"Told you," Shada said.

"You should listen to your friends. And besides; don't be in such a hurry," Kakashi said. "I didn't say 'start' yet."

Sakura, Sasuke, and Shada prepared themselves for a fight, ready for Kakashi to say the word any second. He simply released Naruto and shoved him forward, allowing him to spin around and take a battle stance just like the others.

"But," Kakashi continued, "you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so… how can I say this?"

Kakashi then tilted his head, closed his visible eye, and smiled under his mask.

"I'm actually starting to like you guys," he said, causing Shada to smirk.

Kakashi's demeanor then changed back to being serious.

"Get ready," he said. "Aaaaaand… start!"

Shada quickly pulled some smoke pellets from inside the fold of his shirt and threw them down before he and his teammates scattered into the surrounded woods, taking cover from their sensei. All except for one; Naruto stayed behind, preparing to attack Kakashi head on again from what it appeared.

Shada took cover behind a tree, put his back up to it, then peered back around it in order to watch Kakashi.

" _I know it's unlikely since he knows about my Arugan, but maybe he'll use some tracking jutsu that I can copy off of him."_

"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements, and hide effectively," Kakashi called out.

Then the smoke from the smoke pellets Shada had used earlier finally cleared enough for Kakashi to also see Naruto. The surprise on his face seemed pretty genuine. Shada doubted anyone had ever pulled that on him before.

"You and me, right now, fair and square!" Naruto shouted. "Let's go!"

" _It's like dealing with a brick wall! Oh well; best use this distraction to come up with a plan."_

Shada watched Kakashi and Naruto stare each other down, Naruto's face filled with confidence, and Kakashi's with confusion, and all the while, he kept thinking up a solution to the problem that was their current mission.

" _Three bells, four of us. They wouldn't design a test just to send one away, would they? Maybe if it was only used on four man squads like ours… but still, taking them off of a Jonin like Kakashi sensei? Impossible for Genin like us unless he lets us. The best way to tell if he'd be willing to do that, thought, is to watch how he handles Naruto."_

"Ya know, compared to the others," Kakashi suddenly said, "you're a little bit… weird."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked. "The only thing weird here is your haircut!"

Just then, Naruto charged in again, this time unarmed and shouting.

Kakashi slowly reached into the pouch on his hip. Naruto noticed, stopped his charge, and quickly back stepped to a safer distance of about fifteen feet. Shada watched every movement of both of them closely, hoping to gain some useful information on both how best to fight with Naruto and how to beat Kakashi.

"Shinobi battle techniques," Kakashi said calmly. "Part one; taijutsu. The physical art."

Kakashi then removed his hand from his weapon pouch, taking out… a book. It had an orange cover, a picture of a guy chasing a girl, and the name read "Make-Out Paradise".

"What the-!?" Naruto cried.

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi asked, opening the book and looking at the pages. "Make your move."

"But- I mean- why are you reading that book!?" Naruto questioned.

"Why?" he asked, still reading. "To find out what happens in the story, of course. Don't let it bother you; with your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading, or… whatever."

" _Naruto is so gonna fall for that goading."_

Naruto immediately took on a look of rage and charged.

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" he shouted angrily.

" _As if I were a prophet."_

Naruto leapt into the air, turned his body, pulling his fist to his chest, then spun his body back around, slinging his fist back out at Kakashi, who blocked it with one hand without looking up.

Naruto landed, then slung his foot around for a spin kick. Kakashi simply crouched, completely dodging the attack, still reading. Naruto just followed through, landed, then dashed forward for a quick punch.

"Now you're mine!" he shouted, only to punch thin air.

" _The hell!?"_

Then Shada saw Kakashi appear behind Naruto, still crouched, but now holding up his hands in a sign, his book closed and held between his palms. Shada didn't notice any form of chakra molding to make a ninjutsu or genjutsu, thought it did look like there was a minor build up for a small taijutsu technique.

"Huh!?" Naruto questioned, noticing his fist's lack of contact.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time," Kakashi suddenly said, causing Naruto to begin turning around. "Too late."

Shada immediately began watching with redoubled interest.

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted, thrusting his hands forward and poking Naruto right between the lower cheeks. "Thousand Years of Death!"

And with that, Kakashi pushed forward even harder, launching Naruto into the air, screaming in pain, and flying towards the nearby river.

" _I'd rather be hit by a fire blast ninjutsu or something. I can't believe I just copied that… It makes my butt hurt just by seeing it!"_

Naruto landed in the water with a big splash while Kakashi stood and went back to reading.

"Okay, where was I?" he asked himself as he flipped to the proper page.

" _Well that was quick. He's going easy on us, sure, but not nearly enough to give us a chance. I need to see more of him fighting so I can figure out what to do next. Maybe if I attack him myself…"_

Just then, two shuriken flew out of the water, heading straight towards Kakashi. He caught them on the first two fingers of his right hand by sticking them through the holes in the middle. He still never looked up from his book.

" _That works."_

Naruto climbed out of the water and struggled to catch his breath at the edge of the river, still on his hands and knees.

"What are you doing now?" Kakashi asked, looking over his book momentarily. "You know you won't get lunch if you can't take a bell by noon."

"I know, I know!" Naruto shouted angrily. "You told us already."

"You look pretty wobbly for someone who's going to 'surpass the Hokage'," Kakashi said.

Shada heard Naruto's stomach growl.

"You told us not to eat breakfast!" he shouted. "How can I fight when I'm starving to death!?"

Shada felt his own stomach growl and a twinge of pain came with it.

" _I knew I should have eaten. Why didn't I just break the rules?"_

"So, you caught me off guard!" Naruto continued to shout as Kakashi began to walk away from him. "That's all it was; believe it! I'm so hungry, I don't have any strength. But I can't let that stop me; I've _gotta_ get one of those bells, no matter what. I'll find the strength somehow; believe it! I'm gonna pass this test, and I'm _not_ going back to the academy."

Just then, Shada saw a few shadows move in the water.

" _Were those…?"_

"I _will_ become a ninja," Naruto continued talking said with a smirk before six more Naruto's leapt from the shallows, joining the original in a rush.

" _Nice, but I doubt it'll stop sensei."_

"Haha!" Naruto shouted. "You're overconfident sensei! That's why you weren't ready for a shadow clone attack; my best jutsu!"

" _The others are probably freaking out right now. They both still thought Naruto was incapable of basic jutsu, but he just pulled out a forbidden one created by the Second Hokage."_

"It looks like the stories are true," Shada heard Kakashi say. "He _can_ create shadow clones. It's a forbidden skill, and he defeated Mizuki with it."

Shada was smiling, as it sounded like Kakashi was about to let Naruto pass.

"Great technique," Kakashi said towards Naruto. "But I don't think you can maintain it for very long. You _talk_ like you're the best Naruto, but you're still the worst student. You can't beat me with this jutsu."

Suddenly, another Naruto jumped onto Kakashi's back, holding him there.

"What!?" Kakashi cried. "He got me from behind!"

The Naruto on Kakashi's back chuckled, then said, "Didn't you say 'don't let your enemies get behind you'? Good advice, Sensei; believe it."

The other Naruto's all piled onto Kakashi's legs, holding him in place, except for one who jumped into the air.

"I had one of my clones come out of the river, then sneak up behind up you, super quiet," the Naruto on Kakashi's back finished, before the one in the air started speaking as he prepared a flying punch.

"Now _this_ is for nailing me in the butt earlier!" he shouted. "You're mine, and so are those bells!"

Naruto's punch then connected, sending some blood into the air… except it was from Naruto's face.

" _It was so fast; I felt like my copying was delayed because of that alone."_

Kakashi had performed a Substitution Jutsu in order to replace himself with one of Naruto's clones, or, more likely, the real one, since it didn't disappear from the powerful blow.

"Huh?" the Naruto who swung questioned just before they landed.

"Ouch!" the victim of the blow shouted right after hitting the ground.

"It's you," the attacker said. "You're Kakashi sensei, aren't you?! You transformed into me using a jutsu!"

The multiple Naruto's immediately began arguing and brawling for several minutes.

" _Idiot."_

After a while, one of them suggested that they simply cancel the jutsu, and after several insults, Naruto did just that, leaving only one beat up and bruised Naruto standing there.

After a second, Shada noticed a silver object on the ground next to Naruto, under the shade of a nearby tree. Naruto then turned towards it as well, just as Shada realized what it was.

" _A bell!"_

Naruto reached for it with a smirk.

"I must have got to him with my attack," he said. "He dropped a bell!"

Just then, a rope trap tightened around Naruto's leg and pulled him into the air, leaving him hanging there upside down by the rope attached to the tree.

" _I'd go for it myself right about now, but I still need to be sure of something."_

Just then, Kakashi walked out from behind the tree, grabbed the bell, and sighed.

" _Think_ before you use a jutsu," he said. "Or else your opponent might use it against you. Oh, and, also… if the bait is obvious, don't take it."

Kakashi then smiled, which angered Naruto.

"A ninja must see through deception," Kakashi said.

"I! Get! It!" Naruto said, struggling to get out of the trap.

"I'm telling you this because you _don't_ get it," Kakashi said. "You _think_ you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"

Just then, several shuriken and kunai flew out of the treeline somewhere to Shada's left, which was where Sasuke had hidden.

"Won't you ever learn?" Kakashi asked before crying out in pain as the weapons hit their mark.

"Ah!" Naruto cried. "He just got blasted by shuriken! Are you out of your mind, Sasuke?! You went too far!"

 **-o-**

 **Reaper: So?**

 **Shada: Hm... I like the action, but when do I get to fight?**

 **Bakuda: Rin's still alive in this version, hm? That's nice. I always liked Rin.**

 **Reaper: I always liked her too, Bakuda. As for your question, Shada; soon. I made you, so I know everything about you, including how you prefer to take your time, analyze the situation, and copy jutsu.**

 **Shada: Fair enough.**

 **Bakuda: Don't forget to follow and favorite the story and the author himself.**

 **Shada: And leave a comment, too. Flames are annoying, but genuine constructive criticism is more than welcome.**

 **Reaper: Thanks guys! And so sorry for the wait.**


	6. You Pass

**_Reaper: I'm back guys._**

 ** _Shada: Well, happy fucking New Year to you too, asshole._**

 ** _Bakuda: Language, Shada._**

 ** _Reaper: Jeez, what's wrong with you?_**

 ** _Shada: Stop abandoning me and my story!_**

 ** _Bakuda: It is getting rather annoying._**

 ** _Reaper: Sorry about that, guys, but... I'm back with a new chapter now, so enjoy!_**

 ** _Shada: TheReaper0115 owns nothing._**

 **-o-**

Shada watched as Kakashi laid on the ground, but he wasn't freaking out. Thanks to the Arugan, he noticed the jutsu as it went off.

" _Still too fast for me to figure out exactly when, but I think I can see it happening quickly enough."_

Kakashi's body then turned into a log, just as Shada expected. What Shada didn't expect was to hear movement from what seemed to be two people. From the directions that they started in, Shada would have to say it was Sasuke being quickly followed by Sakura as they headed deeper into the woods.

" _Better go track them down. I have an idea of what we need to do in order to pass."_

Shada threw a shuriken at the rope holding up Naruto, then jumped up into the tree branches. He began hopping from branch to branch, heading towards the sounds the other two were making.

" _Not big on stealth, are they?"_

Shada continued heading towards the direction of the movement, even when he could no longer hear it, until he saw a flash of pink. He stopped and crouched on his branch to see Sakura simply staring off into space.

"Uh, Sakura?" Shada asked, wondering why she had a dopey expression on her face. "You okay?"

Just then, panic entered her face and she began screaming.

Shada jumped to the ground and activated he Byakugan, expecting something to be there, and preparing himself to fight whatever it was. But there was nothing.

"What the hell are you screaming for?" Shada questioned before noticing that Sakura's chakra network appeared to be disrupted. "I see; Genjutsu, huh?"

Shada deactivated his Byakugan and put a hand on her shoulder. He then pumped a bit of his chakra into her, disrupting the Genjutsu.

"Huh?" Sakura questioned, blinking in surprise. "What happened?"

"You got caught in a Genjutsu," Shada said. "Now, let's go get Sasuke; I have a plan, and I'll need the whole team to do it."

Sakura seemed to ponder this for a moment, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" she said simply.

Shada nodded and jumped into the trees, quickly followed by Sakura. He lead her in the direction he'd last heard Sasuke's movement, then began following to footprints, broken twigs, and damaged bark.

" _Looks like he resorted to outrunning Kakashi. I realize that he didn't have a lot of options to choose from, but still. Kind of defeats the purpose if you leave a trail like this. I'm not even that well trained in tracking."_

Finally, Shada stopped, having come to the edge of a clearing. Sakura landed beside him.

"Why'd we stop?" she whispered.

"We found him," Shada said while pointing into the middle of the clearing.

There stood Sasuke, facing the opposite direction, while Kakashi leaned against a tree at the edge of the treeline less the thirty feet in front of Shada and Sasuke.

"I'm not like the others," Sasuke said coldly, still facing the opposite direction.

"Say that _after_ you get one of these bells, 'my Sasuke'," Kakashi said with a teasing laugh at the end, clearly mocking him by mimicking Sakura.

Kakashi then stopped leaning on the tree and took a few steps towards Sasuke. Shada noticed that he was once again reading his book.

Sasuke suddenly threw out shuriken, but Kakashi simply jumped to the right and went into a slide.

"There's no point using normal attacks," Kakashi chided.

Sasuke then threw a kunai into the treeline, cutting a rope that Shada hadn't seen before then.

"A trap?" Kakashi questioned before stopping his slide, facing the oncoming kunai, and leaping to right again, putting away his book now.

Sasuke then appeared behind him in midair, his leg brought up for a heel kick to Kakashi's head.

Kakashi spun around and blocked the kick with his forearm. He then reached over grabbed Sasuke's leg with his right hand. Sasuke retaliated by throwing a right hook at Kakashi, which he caught with his left hand.

Sasuke then flipped his body so that he was upside down, kicking at Kakashi's head from above with his free leg. Kakashi used his left forearm to black, still holding onto Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke, still upside down, didn't let this slow him down, and used his last free limb to reach for a bell. His fingers grazed it, surprising Kakashi, who immediately tossed Sasuke back like he had a disease while he also slid back.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi.

Just then, Shada heard crashing behind him.

"Hey guys, you could have waited up for me, ya know!"

"Naruto, shut it!" Shada whispered loudly.

"Sorry," Naruto whispered as he landed on the opposite side of Shada from Sakura. "What's going on?"

"We're gonna let Sasuke fight Kakashi sensei on his own for a minute," Shada said. "When he loses, and he will lose, we'll go get him and then all four of us are going to work together to get those bells."

"But there are only three!" Naruto cried.

"Shh!" Shada hushed. "I know. I'll be the one to go without. Trust me; we'll all pass. Now watch."

Sasuke began making a few hand signs before holding his right hand to his mouth, his first two fingers raised a bit higher than the others.

"Fire Style; Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted.

"What?!" Kakashi questioned. "Genin can't do fire jutsu; takes too much chakra! There's no way."

Sasuke blew into his hand, and out from under his first two fingers came a stream of fire, which turned into a ball of flames, right where Kakashi had been standing moments before. But Shada had seen the jutsu Kakashi had used to escape.

"Hey, if we need to work together, then shouldn't we help Sasuke?" Sakura asked as the flames died down, revealing that Kakashi was gone to everyone that hadn't already noticed.

"Sasuke's too prideful to even realize that he needs help on his own," Shada said. "I could tell that the first time I met him. He needs to lose here in order for him to figure out that he's not strong enough by himself."

Naruto chuckled a bit, and Sakura sighed, but neither one disagreed. They just watched while Sasuke frantically looked around for Kakashi before a hand reached out of the ground, grabbed his ankle, and pulled him into the dirt, leaving only his head above ground.

Kakashi then seemed to simply rise out of the ground, leaving no hole or cracked earth. He then crouched in front of Sasuke and smiled.

"Earth Style; Headhunter Jutsu," Kakashi said as Sasuke began attempting to squirm his way out of the ground. "Can't move, huh? That was ninjutsu. Another shinobi battle skill. You have talent, and you're right; you are… different from the other three, but different isn't always better."

Kakashi then stood and pulled his book back out.

"They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down," he said before walking off.

"Great!" Sasuke growled as Kakashi disappeared into the tree line.

"Alright, let's go get him," Shada said before leaping down.

 **-o-**

Shada calmly walked out into the clearing that the training had started in. Kakashi was also standing there, simply reading before sparing Shada a quick glance. The lake was to his back.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked. "Finally your turn, I suppose?"

"Yep," Shada said cheerfully, coming to a stop about twenty feet away.

Shada activated his Byakugan and took the gentle fist stance.

"Ah, the Byakugan," Kakashi said. "I should have guessed that you'd use that jutsu. After all; you were raised by the Hyuga."

"That's right, sensei," Shada said. "Now, what do ya say to a little spar?"

"Very well," Kakashi said, once again looking down at his book. "Remember; intent to kill."

"You got it," Shada said with a smirk before charging forward.

Shada sent a palm strike to Kakashi's gut. To his surprise, his first attack struck. Then, he quickly realized that it struck wood rather than flesh.

"Damn it!" he shouted before Kakashi turned into a log.

Shada saw Kakashi behind him thanks to his Byakugan. He immediately closed his hand, let his arm go limp, then spun around, using his fist as a sort of mace. Kakashi caught his wrist without looking away from his book.

"You know, if it didn't work for Naruto, and if it didn't work Sasuke, then why did you think it would work for you? I mean, clearly, one-on-one direct combat is a bad idea here, so why bother?" Kakashi asked.

Shada grabbed the hand that was holding his wrist with his own free hand and said, "Who says this is one-on-one? NOW!"

About twenty Naruto's suddenly leapt from the lake, which was now behind Shada. They all piled onto Kakashi and held him in place, shocking their sensei.

"A tag team attack? I should have expected as much seeing as how you two _are_ partners," Kakashi said.

Shada just smirked as a response before one more Naruto came out of the water. Shada let go of Kakashi just before that last Naruto snatched Shada out of Kakashi's grip. The two then both dove into the water just before a fireball followed by hundreds of shuriken and kunai came pouring from the treeline, where Sasuke stood, still blowing fire, while Sakura cut more chords to send dozens more kunai towards them.

Naruto and Shada both waited underwater for a good thirty seconds before checking to see if it was safe to come out. They both slowly stuck their heads out to see Sasuke and Sakura holding a bell each and smiling down at them from the water's edge.

"Did we win, then?" Naruto asked.

"That's right."

The two both spun around to see Kakashi standing on the water behind them and smiling through his mask. Shada quickly copied how to do that, though he knew he wouldn't be able to perform it without practice.

Kakashi then tossed Naruto a bell, which he caught, before reaching into one of his vest pockets and pulling out another bell, which he tossed to Shada.

"You all pass," he told them. "You're the first squad to ever do so. I'm very impressed."

"Wait, really?" Shada asked as he and Naruto climbed back onto the shore.

"That's right," Kakashi answered as they once again faced him. "The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves."

Kakashi walked forward until he, too, was standing on solid earth once more.

"A ninja must see through deception," he continued. "'In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum.' That's true, but… those who abandon their friends… are worse than scum."

Sakura sighed. Sasuke smirked. Naruto looked to be on the verge of tears. Shada laughed.

"Ya know, Sensei; you're actually pretty cool when you're not trying to humiliate us," Shada said.

"I suppose I'll take that as a compliment," Kakashi said. "Anyways, the exercise is over; everyone passes. Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow!"

At that last part, he gave a thumbs-up, causing Naruto and Sakura to start cheering.

" _ **Excellent work, Shada. You're father would have been very proud."**_

" _Thanks… flea bag."_

 **-o-**

 ** _Reaper: What's up?_**

 ** _Shada: You're getting lazy with these little shorts outside of the story._**

 ** _Reaper: Hey, I'm doing my best here!_**

 ** _Bakuda: Well, maybe you should give it up._**

 ** _Reaper: No way! I'm having way too much fun!_**

 ** _Shada: Oh, boy. Well, don't forget to follow and favorite the story and author._**

 ** _Bakuda: Also, leave a review for us to read. Shada and I get very bored here._**

 ** _Shada: Especially when Reaper is too lazy to type._**

 ** _Reaper: Hey!_**


	7. A Real Mission

_**Reaper: Sup.**_

 _ **Bakuda: Welcome back.**_

 _ **Shada: Where the hell where you this time?**_

 _ **Reaper: Honestly? Balancing this with school, my family, my girlfriend, and my social/societal**_ _ **obligations**_ _ **, all while battling one of the many reasons as to why Shikamaru is the character I've related to most from any show ever; total lack of motivation.**_

 _ **Bakuda: You relate to Shikamaru?**_

 _ **Reaper: He's like a conglomeration of my good parts with only one of my bad ones. Genius level intellect, extreme loyalty, a strong willed woman by his side, very chill, excellent at shogi (though for me, it's chess), and an extremely good and loyal friend who is somewhat overweight and has an**_ _ **unbelievably**_ _ **kind heart (seriously, they nailed that one a little too well).**_

 _ **Shada: Huh. Freaky.**_

 _ **Reaper: Yep. Hey, what were we talking about again?**_

 _ **Bakuda: TheReaper0115 owns nothing!**_

 _ **Reaper: No, seriously, what were we-**_

 **-o-**

Shada crouched on a branch, happily humming to himself while pulling on the communication device strapped around his neck, an earpiece in his left ear connected to the neck piece by a thin black wire. It was a relatively calm day just outside of the village walls, just a few clouds dotting the sky.

"Sasuke, I'm at point B," Sasuke's voice suddenly said through the ear piece.

"Sakura, I'm at point C," Sakura added quickly.

"Shada, I'm at point D," Shada said into the mic.

"Naruto, I'm at point A, believe it," Naruto said in a hushed but eager tone.

"Go slow, Naruto," Kakashi warned, clearly noticing Naruto's hidden excitement. "Okay, Squad Seven-hm?"

There was silence for a minute.

"The target has moved!" Kakashi suddenly shouted. "Follow it!"

Suddenly, a small blur rammed right into Shada. He caught it and held his grip as he fell off the branch.

"I hate cats!" he shouted before hitting the forest floor with his back.

Torah, a small brown cat with a red bow tied to his right ear, immediately began attacking Shada. Shada just barely managed to pull him off and hold him at a distance by the scruff of his neck before Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto walked out from behind some nearby trees.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi asked through the mic.

"None," Sasuke answered back while Torah hissed. "The target ran right into Shada and has now been captured."

"Can you verify ribbon on right ear?" Kakashi asked.

"Affirmative," Shada responded. "We got him. Now let's bring him back."

"Right," Kakashi answered back. "Lost pet 'Torah' captured. Mission accomplished."

"Can't we get a better mission that this?" Naruto asked the others with a pout.

"I hope we do soon," Shada told him. "Otherwise, I might just lose it."

 **-o-**

Shada watched as an overweight woman with too much makeup and poofy brown hair that had been put up into a traditional bun smothered Torah while speaking to him in baby talk.

"Oh, my poor little Torah," she said. "Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins, yes!"

The woman was Madam Shijimi, wife of the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord.

Shada smirked. Torah had clawed up his arms and face pretty good, so this seemed like a well deserved punishment.

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura whispered.

"Fuzzykins, ooh, you're my baby," Madam Shijimi continued. "I'm so happy!"

The team was in a large room in the Hokage's tower that was meant for receiving missions. The Hokage, Iruka, and a couple of advisers all sat at a long desk at the far end of the room, looking over paperwork.

"Now, then," the old man spoke while looking at a paper, "for Squad 7's next mission, we have several available tasks."

Suddenly, something on the sheet caught his eye as Madam Shijimi paid, then left.

"Among them," he said, "babysitting the chief counselor's three-year-old, helping his wife to do she shopping, digging up potatoes, and-"

"No!" Naruto suddenly interrupted, causing the Hokage to look at them as Naruto crossed his arms to make an X. "I want to go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting; not this little kid stuff! Come on, Old Man!"

"Actually, I agree with Naruto, Gramps," Shada said. "I don't think I can handle another chore."

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Iruka cried, standing up and leaning over the desk towards them, his hands placed on it. "YOU'RE JUST A COUPLE OF BRAND-NEW GENIN WITH NO EXPERIENCE! LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, YOU START WITH SIMPLE MISSIONS TO DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS AND PROVE YOURSELF!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Naruto cried in return. "BABYSITTING IS NOT A MISSION, IT'S JUST A STUPID-Ah!"

Kakashi struck Naruto over the head just hard enough to shut him up and send him to the floor.

"Will you put a lid on it?" Kakashi asked as Naruto began yelling out in pain and rubbing his head.

"I still agree with Naruto," Shada said as Naruto stood back up. "We've done plenty of these missions. Isn't it about time we did more?"

"It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given," Hiruzen said, taking a puff of his tobacco pipe. "Listen; many different kinds of requests come into our village every day… from babysitting, to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed, then ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty.

"We ninja are also ranked by ability; Hokage at the top, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we select the missions and assign them to ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience. And if the mission is successful, we receive a fee that supports our village and our work. Since you are untried Genin just starting down the shinobi path, you are given D-level assignments, of course."

"Well, we can't exactly move up if we can't get the chance to hone our skills, now can we?" Shada questioned.

"You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something!" Naruto complained. "But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time; I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission!"

Naruto then puffed up his cheeks and faced the opposite direction.

"Not helping, Naruto," Shada said while shaking his head.

"Hmm, I'm going to hear about this later," Kakashi said while rubbing the back of his head.

Both Iruka and Hiruzen chuckled.

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat; he's a _former_ brat," Hiruzen stated. "And Shada wants to test his skills in the real world. They both want a mission… so be it."

"Huh?" Naruto responded, turning back around while Sakura, Sasuke, and Shada looked at the Hokage in surprise.

"Since you are so determined, I'm going to give you a C-ranked mission," Hiruzen told them with a smile. "You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Seriously?" Shada asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted, shooting to his feet. "Who? Who? Are we guarding a princess? Or some bigwig counselor!?"

"Don't be so impatient," Hiruzen old him. "I will bring him in now. Send in our visitor!"

Everyone turned around to face the only door into the room. When it slid open, all Shada could smell was alcohol.

"What the-a bunch of little snot-nosed kids!?"

An old man with spiky grey hair and a pointed grey beard, a white rope tied around his head, an old, sleeveless brown shirt and khaki pants stood in the doorway. He also wore white rimmed glasses, a large traveler's pack, and a white hand towel around his neck. His face was clearly beet red thanks to the bottle of sake he had in his hand, which he was now gulping down more of.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned.

The man stopped gulping down the drink and took a breath, now leaning on the doorway.

"And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face," the old man continued, "You really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto started laughing and asked, "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his..."

Just then, Naruto noticed that, unlike Shada, who was the tallest of the four Genin, he had not been blessed with height. In fact, he was the shortest member of Squad Seven.

Shada suddenly had to dive forward and put Naruto in a Full Nelson lock in order to keep him from attacking the client.

"I'll demolish you!" he shouted. "Let me get my hands on him! I'll destroy him! Come on! He's mine! Come here!"

"Calm down, you psychotic ball of anger!" Shada shouted, struggling to hold onto his friend.

"You can't 'demolish' the client, Naruto," Kakashi said. "It doesn't work that way."

The old man took another swig from the bottle before explaining himself.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country," he said. "I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if that means giving up your life."

" _Well, that's the job description, I suppose."_

" _ **Oh, how fun this will be."**_

 **-o-**

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted. "All right!"

Squad Seven and Tazuna had all made it to the giant front gates of the village.

"What are you so excited about, Naruto?" Sakura asked curiously.

"This is the first time I ever left the village," Naruto said, looking around as though searching for some undiscovered species. "I'm a traveler now, believe it."

"You know, we're not actually outside of the village borders yet," Shada said. "In fact, we were further out than this just earlier when we were dealing with Torah."

"That's right," Kakashi said. "You'll know that we've left the village completely once we reach the Aru compound."

Shada spun around to face his sensei.

"We're going there!?" he questioned.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "It's on the way, so we have to."

"Can we make a stop there?" Shada asked hurriedly.

" _ **Don't bother. The seals won't let you enter until you have come of age. By clan law, you must be sixteen to enter."**_

" _Then how would I have lived there!?"_

" _ **These seals only became active once there was only one Aru left. They were developed by Hamba Aru, a paranoid old coot who specialized in seals roughly eighty years ago I think. He believed that if the Aru clan was ever nearly eradicated to the point of only one member remaining, then the ancient scrolls of the Aru clan would have to have some form of protection until an Aru of proper age could reclaim them."**_

" _Then how did Hiashi take the scrolls that I do have?"_

" _ **The seals couldn't activate with a child still inside; you'd have been trapped forever. So Hiashi and his Hyuga guards grabbed every training scroll they could for you and took you out of the compound."**_

" _Great."_

"Hm, I suppose we could," Kakashi said. "After all; it's been a while since I've been there."

"Never mind," Shada said, hearing the disappointment in his own voice. "The seals won't let us in until I'm older."

"We could still see it from the outside, couldn't we?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, but I want to be able to explore my first home the next time I see it," Shada said. "So I'll wait until then."

"All right, can we just go already?" Naruto whined.

"I'm so sorry my curiosity about my dead family is such a bother to you, Naruto," Shada said, giving his friend a hard look.

"Sorry…" Naruto mumbled out sheepishly, hanging his head.

"Am I really supposed to trust my life to these runts?" Tazuna asked, pointing at Naruto and Shada, both of whom immediately turned on him angrily. "They're nothing but a couple of jokes!"

Kakashi chuckled, then said, "They're both with me, and I'm a Jonin, so you don't need to worry."

"Do we really have to guard this guy, Sensei?" Shada asked. "I mean, is anyone really gonna miss him?"

"What was that!?" Tazuna shouted.

"You heard me, you old drunk," Shada said. "Now, I suggest you stop acting like our king, or should we come across any actual danger, I may just fail my mission of protecting you."

Tazuna gritted his teeth, but said nothing. Instead, he began walking forward.

" _Well that was easy."_

 **-o-**

"Say, Mr. Tazuna?" Sakura spoke up.

The team was walking down a dirt road. It had been roughly three hours since they left the gates.

"What is it?" Tazuna asked moodily, likely still mad about Shada's threat.

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah…" Tazuna said slowly. "What of it?"

"Kakashi sensei, there are ninja in that country too, aren't there?" Sakura asked, turning to their sensei.

"No," Kakashi said simply. "There are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But, in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninja reside.

"To the people of this continent, the existence of Shinobi villages means strength; military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries.

"The ninja villages are not controlled by any government. They're independent, and have equal status. Now, a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village.

"The five ancient lands that possess Shinobi villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together they are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves; the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist; the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; The Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in the Sand; and the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones."

"There are other villages, though, right Sensei?" Shada asked. "Like the Hidden Waterfall Village, or the Hidden Star Village?"

"Well, yes, and these villages reside in nations other than the Five Great Nations, but they aren't considered to be as powerful," Kakashi said. "And only the leaders of the hidden villages within the Five Great Nations are permitted the name 'Kage', which means 'shadow.' Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage; these are the leaders, the five shadows, that reign over thousands of ninja."

Shada thought back to the Third Hokage.

"Gramps may be old, but I guess he's still an important figure, right?" Shada asked.

"That's right," Kakashi said. "Which is exactly why you should refer to him with more respect than 'Gramps'."

"Eh, he's family to me," Shada said with a smirk. "So I'm always gonna call him Gramps."

Kakashi sighed, then continued by saying, "Well, anyways, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission, so you can relax."

"And we're not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that," Sakura said happily.

Kakashi laughed, then said, "Not likely."

Shada briefly noticed a strange look on Tazuna's face.

" _ **He's hiding something."**_

" _Like what?"_

" _ **Given the subject of the conversation, I'd say keep your eye out for enemy ninja."**_

" _Seriously? Alright then. I trust you know what you're talking about."_

 **-o-**

The team and their client walked over a bridge that passed right over a dying stream. There had been a bit of a drought in the area over the past couple of weeks, so the strong river that had once been there was now one foot deep, three feet wide, making it nothing more than a stream.

Shada kept looking for anything out of the ordinary when he finally found something about two hundred yards past the bridge; a puddle just lying in the road. A puddle couldn't form there. The earth was dry and it hadn't rained in days. The river was too far away, and if a traveler had poured out his canteen, it would have soaked into the ground.

As they approached it, Shada reached into his weapon pouch and grabbed a kunai with an explosive tag attached to the bottom of the handle by a string. Shada noticed the slight shift in his teammates' stances, indicating that they saw where his hand had gone.

Seconds later, when Shada was right beside the puddle, he threw the kunai into the water and jumped back, the rest of the team doing the same, Kakashi grabbing Tazuna to make sure he was clear too.

The explosion went off, and for a moment, Shada thought he'd gotten whoever it was. Then he heard Kakashi yell.

"Sensei!" Shada shouted once he turned and saw the problem.

Two men, each with long, messy brown hair, strange, mud-camouflage clothes, gas mask mouth pieces, and a clawed metal gauntlet on one arm, had Kakashi wrapped in a bladed chain, which was attached to both of the men's gauntlets.

One of them had a dark grey cloak and a Hidden Mist headband with a large metal spike coming out of the top. His clawed gauntlet, with the chained blade coming from beneath his wrist, was on his right arm.

The other one wore no cloak, his matching gauntlet was on his left arm, and his Hidden Mist headband had two small spikes coming out of the top, spread far enough apart to look like demon horns on opposing sides of his forehead.

"Do it!" the uncloaked one shouted just before they both tugged on their chains, ripping Kakashi to shreds.

Sakura screamed. Sasuke stared. Shada simply stood there in shock. Even Tazuna was speechless as pieces of Kakashi hit the ground.

"K-Kakashi sensei!" Naruto cried.

Just then, the two appeared behind Naruto and chuckled.

"Now it's your turn," the one in the cloak said.

The two suddenly moved apart, spreading their chain to hit Naruto with it. That was when Shada saw an opening.

Shada grabbed a shuriken out of his pouch and threw it, hitting the chain and pinning it against a tree.

"Alright, you two!" he shouted, gaining their attention. "Say your prayers!"

" _I'm so dead."_

Just then, a kunai went through the hole in the middle of the shuriken, pinning it to the tree much more effectively.

"I can't get loose!" the one in the cloak said as he angrily tugged on the chain.

Just then, Sasuke appeared, standing with one foot on each gauntlet. He then leaned over, gripped the gauntlets with his hands, and kicked back, kicking both of the men in the face.

Just then, as Naruto looked on, frozen in shock, both of the man released the chain from their gauntlets as they fell. They then both recovered and ran for separate targets.

The one without a cloak headed straight for Naruto. Shada dove for him. The cloaked one headed straight for Tazuna. Sakura got it front of him, but then Sasuke appeared in front of her, facing the enemy with his arms spread wide.

The one heading for Naruto managed to just barely cut the back of his hand with one of the clawed fingers before Shada reached him, dive in from the side and stabbing a kunai into his forearm at the base of the gauntlet. He cried out in pain and pulled his arm back… before simply disappearing.

" _Whoa… that was way too fast! Was he hiding his real speed the whole time?"_

" _ **Then perhaps it wasn't him."**_

Shada suddenly heard Sakura gasp behind him. He spun around, only to gasp himself, and then smile.

"Kakashi sensei!" he cried happily. "You're alive!"

Kakashi was standing in front of Sasuke, holding both of the men in separate headlocks, both seemingly unconscious.

"Hi," he said simply.

"Huh?" Naruto suddenly asked before looking at Shada and the bloody kunai he was holding, then at the pieces of Kakashi's corpse, which turned out to now be cut up pieces of wood. "But he was-What?!"

He stared for a moment.

"He used the Substitution Jutsu to get out of it," Shada said, also looking at the pile. "I never even saw it. And that's kind of my specialty. He's faster than we thought."

Kakashi began walking towards the nearest tree with his two captives before looking back at Shada and Naruto.

"Naruto," he said, "Sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that. Shada, good job covering for him, but maybe we should avoid attacking random puddles from now on. We didn't even know if they were enemies."

Kakashi then continued walking, but when he passed the other three, he stopped again.

"Good job, Sasuke," he said. "Very smooth. You too, Sakura."

Naruto gained an angry look on his face, clenched his fists, then looked down at his feet.

"Hey," Shada said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll do fine next time. Can't promise I won't blow up another puddle, though. That was fun."

Naruto's condition hadn't improved when Shada removed his hand, and Shada also noticed that Sasuke was staring into the sky, obviously bored.

" _ **That was impressive, He behaves like he's already seen battle."**_

" _He was there the night his family was killed."_

" _ **True. And how is it that you also reacted so well?"**_

" _It's simple, really; I didn't think."_

" _ **What do you mean?"**_

" _I didn't think about the dangers or the situation I was in. I focused on one thing; fighting."_

" _ **You really enjoy battle, don't you?"**_

" _Well, yeah; the rush is great. The killing I could do without, but the fight itself? Totally awesome."_

"Hey," Sasuke said, turning to Naruto.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, obviously surprised that Sasuke was talking to him.

"You're not hurt, are ya?" he asked with mock concern. "Scaredy cat."

Naruto growled with anger.

"Sasuke, is there really a point to you being a jerk today?" Shada questioned, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Sasuke just gave Shada a questioning look before turning away from him and Naruto.

"Sasuke…" Naruto growled out before beginning to step forward.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called out, stopping Naruto in his tracks. "Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly."

Shada looked back down at Naruto's left hand, which was the one that had been cut.

" _Damn it! I should have been faster."_

" _ **He'll be fine, Shada. Besides, unlike you, he's right handed."**_

"You have to open the wound and remove it," Kakashi told Naruto. "It's in your blood, so don't move around That spreads the poison."

Naruto looked at his hand and Shada saw shame pass over him.

"By the way, Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said, surprising the bridge builder.

"Yeah, what?" he asked defensively.

"We need to talk," Kakashi stated simply.

 **-o-**

"They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi explained. "Their specialty is relentless attack. They keep fighting, no matter what the sacrifice."

"Ya know, these guys were in one of my handbooks," Shada said. "The Demon Brothers is what they were called, I think."

The Demon Brothers were both tied to a tree while Team Seven and Tazuna surrounded them.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of them asked while looking at Shada.

"Are you kidding?" Shada asked. "There's a dry spell around these parts so bad that the river is barely even a stream right now. There's no source of water close enough to make a puddle, and if there were, it would have dried up because of the lack of the dry ground and hot sun."

"Hey, why'd you take so long to help out the Genin?" Tazuna asked Kakashi. "Why leave all the fighting up to them?"

"I could have taken them out quickly," Kakashi said."But then I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was…"

At this, Kakashi glared at Tazuna.

"And… what they were after," he finished.

"Hmm?" responded Tazuna.

"Wait, isn't it obvious that they were going for Tazuna?" Shada asked. "I mean, who else would be getting targeted?"

"Well, for one, you," Kakashi answered. "The Hidden Mist Village also goes by the name Blood Mist Village, and in that village, they hate kekkei genkai. Therefore, the last of the Aru would make a good target. Then again, so would the Last of the Uchiha, so Sasuke might have also been the target. But, given how they went after the bridge builder and Naruto, I think it's safe to assume that Tazuna was, in fact, the primary target."

"Wait, I thought we were just supposed to stop bandits!" Sakura cried. "You said that there weren't any ninja battles on a C-rank mission, Sensei!"

"There aren't," Kakashi said, staring right at Tazuna. "When you put in your request, Mr. Tazuna, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down.

"If we knew this, it would be a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we'd be fielding attacks from enemy ninja, we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B mission.

"Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission.

"We're Genin," Sakura said. "This is too advanced for our level of training. We should go back."

"How will that look, though?" Shada asked. "You already saw that Sasuke and I were pretty much on even ground with those two, and Sensei took them out without even paying attention, so we seem pretty well equipped to me. Therefore, if we run now, we'll just look like cowards, and that would reflect poorly on the Leaf."

"But what about Naruto's wound?" Sakura asked. "I really think we need to treat it and get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village, we can take him to a doctor."

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed, looking over to Naruto, who simply stared at the ground. "Naruto's hand _could_ become a problem."

He then sighed in defeat before continuing with, "I guess we should go back to the village."

"I suppose you're right," Shada stated. "I'm a little disappointed that we won't see any more action, but it's better than letting Naruto die."

Naruto suddenly pulled a kunai out of his pouch and stabbed it into his hand, right were the cut was. He then dragged it down a bit, then pulled it out.

"Jesus Christ, Naruto!" Shada cried, completely taken by surprise. "We said it was poisoned, not that it hated ramen!"

"Why am I so different?" Naruto questioned angrily. "Why am I always-?"

Naruto groaned in frustration at that point.

"Naruto, stop that!" Sakura cried. "What are you doing?"

"I thought you guys wanted him dead, anyways," Shada said.

Sakura clearly looked like she'd been called out, but she still responded with, "Look, I know we have our differences, but I never wanted him to cut himself!"

"Well then, maybe your not as bad as I thought," Shada said with a chuckle before taking bandages out of his pack. "Well, let's get you patched up, Naruto. Sis will kill me if I let you bleed out."

"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt, training alone for hours, anything to get stronger, to reach my dream!" Naruto continued, ignoring Shada and looking down at his bleeding hand. "I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away. And I will not lose to Sasuke."

Sasuke seemed to be paying close attention to Naruto's vow, and Shada thought he looked almost impressed.

"Upon this wound, I make this pledge," Naruto said before smiling at the rest of them with his devilish grin while raising his bloody kunai in his other hand. "Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife."

Shada then grabbed Naruto's wrist and began wrapping it with bandages.

"You've got guts, Naruto, and I respect that, but how about you at least _try_ not to kill yourself anymore, okay?"

Naruto winced at Shada's rough handling of his wounded hand, but chuckled all the same.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," he said with a thumbs-up from his other hand after he had wiped the kunai off on his pants and put it away.

"You'd better be," Shada said, noticing that the wound was already closing itself thanks to Naruto's enhanced healing. "Otherwise, Hinata will never forgive me."

"Naruto," Sakura said in a chastising voice, "you've got a self-abusive personality. It's called masochism."

"You would be the expert on that, right Sakura?" Shada said with a goofy smirk. "I mean, I very much doubt you're the sweet and innocent type."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN!?" Sakura shouted angrily, her face completely red.

"Well, given the fact that you're mad," Shada said as he finished bandaging up Naruto, "I'd say you already know."

He then turned and gave Sakura a wink, causing her facial color to darken before she turned away, obviously out of things to say.

" _I win this round."_

 **-o-**

 _ **Shada: So, what have you been doing to relax on your personal time?**_

 _ **Reaper: What personal time?**_

 _ **Bakuda: We come from you. We know that you always make some personal time to keep your head in check. It's how you dealt with your anger issues and it's how you always remain calm without the use of drugs.**_

 ** _Shada: Yeah, so how does one who never smokes or drinks remain so calm while under so much pressure._**

 ** _ _Reaper: Working out, training, meditating, video games, chess, reading, or watching Fairy Tail. I__** ** _ _usually__** ** _ _pick one of these and it changes based on my mood. Lately, I'll take a few minutes to just work out or watch some Fairy Tail.__**

 ** _ _Bakuda: I see. Well, maybe you should focus more on this.__**

 ** _ _Reaper: Fair enough. Alright, don't forget to review, follow, and favorite the story.__**

 ** _ _Shada: Make sure you also follow and favorite the other, as he plans on making more stories after this.__**

 ** _ _Reaper: Thanks for reading!__**


	8. A Message to My Readers

**_Reaper: Hey guys, this is TheReaper0115, and I've got some bad news._**

 ** _Bakuda: What did you do?_**

 ** _Reaper: Well, I kind of ran out of ideas._**

 ** _Shada: Meaning?_**

 ** _Reaper: Meaning I have to put this story on hiatus. I have no idea where I'm going with it anymore, and I have a serious case of writer's block with this story._**

 ** _Bakuda: Just this story?_**

 ** _Reaper: Pretty much. So, in the meantime, I'm going to be posting another story._**

 ** _Shada: Which one?_**

 ** _Reaper: The Last Slytherin._**

 ** _Bakuda: Ah, the Harry Potter story. Introducing them to John already?_**

 ** _Shada: HA! You have fun with that, buddy. That kid's way too OP._**

 ** _Reaper: No he's not... well, maybe in hand to hand, but I didn't give him anything I couldn't do._**

 ** _Bakuda: And you're a fighter. No matter what most guys say, the common person can't do what you do. You're trained. And Harry Potter isn't exactly an anime where martial arts means jack shit._**

 ** _Shada: Exactly. The only thing going for his weaknesses is that he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head._**

 _ **Reaper: Actually, I've changed how good he was at spell-casting. Now, he's just on the same level as Harry. He is, however, more confident, so he'll come off as stronger.**_

 _ **Bakuda & Shada: Prove it.**_

 _ **Reaper: I will. So look out for my new fanfic, readers! Thanks for your understanding and support. Later.**_

 _ **Bakuda: Farewell.**_

 _ **Shada: See ya.**_


End file.
